— By PIE correspondent — 

Spanish plastics technology centre Aimplas (Valencia; www.aimplas.net) has launched the Go Champlast research project in collaboration with several compatriot entities. The initiative aims to reuse waste from mushroom cultivation and develop a compostable biofilm to replace conventional fossil-based plastic mulch films, which are expensive and difficult to recycle.

The project is geared towards helping farmers in Spain – the third largest grower of mushrooms in Europe – improve sustainability and profitability by reducing costs associated with managing their crop residues. The initiative also offers opportunities for business diversification through the development of advanced materials, such as compostable mulch films, Aimplas said.

To date, the Go Champlast project has demonstrated that it is possible to obtain viable compostable biofilms for the cultivation of button and oyster mushrooms. Now in its final phase, the project is testing whether these biofilms fully degrade during the composting process.

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The venture aims to address the challenge of disposing of spent mushroom substrate, which can no longer be used for industrial production and poses a significant burden to farmers. According to the technology centre, one potential solution is converting this substrate, along with other crop residues, into advanced char. This material can be used as a fertiliser to improve crop yields and as a partial substitute for peat, a common cover material in mushroom cultivation.

Aimplas did not say whether the compostable biofilm is made from the used mushroom substrate.

The project is funded by operational groups of the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI), with Aimplas as the technical coordinator.