RECYCLING: Fungi Factory kit for growing mushrooms in coffee grounds.

08. October 2019 | Waste, Material | via Dezeen.com

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The oyster mushrooms are edible and can be prepared for home cooking. (Credit: Dezeen.com)

Fungi Factory is a household  kit that provides a use for the increasing number of coffee grounds at UK households, according to an article on Dezeen.com. Rather than throwing coffee grounds away, users can repurpose them as a bed for growing oyster mushrooms in just four weeks.

"The concept helps to highlight possibilities of waste recycling within the home by bringing the often unseen, circular economy into the hands and control of people," said Pybus.

The system comprises four products, a storage container for grounds, a vessel for mixing the grounds with mycelium, a domed fruiting environment in which the mushrooms grow, and a grinder. Loose coffee grounds are put into the storage container with mycelium spores. These spores germinate and starts the process of forming into mushrooms. Coffee grounds are a good fertile medium for growing mushrooms and the kit offers an easy way to do this in a domestic environment. By adjusting the carbon-dioxide levels inside the fruiting environment, the mushrooms can be kept healthy for up to three fruiting cycles. The output includes not just the oyster mushrooms, but also their stems – often called chog – that can be chopped down in the grinder to be formed into mushroom patties. The leftover matured mycelium can be composted along with the coffee grounds after three rounds of growth. Users can also harvest and mould the mycelium to form into products.

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