In the Netherlands, designer Odette Dierkx has envisioned a new concept for producing protein bars: dried mycelium that has been fed waste plastics.
Dubbed Plastik Protein, the mycelium powder contains amino acids, fiber, and nutrients that can be used as food ingredients. The protein bars would be made by mixing the powder with natural flavoring, cocoa, nuts or fruit extract.
Several mushrooms could be used, including oyster mushrooms for digesting polyethylene terephthalate plastic and turkey tail mushrooms for consuming low density polyethylene.
According to Dierkx, the resulting bars would contain no traces of plastic.