Challenge

Plastic packaging waste poses severe environmental threats, contributing to pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss. In 2019, global plastics production emitted 1.8 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG), equivalent to 3.4% of global emissions, with 90% stemming from fossil fuel extraction and processing  (OECD, 2022). This is more than Russia’s 1.7 billion tonnes of annual emissions in 2021 (UNFCCC, 2021).

Packaging dominates the plastics market at around 60% of end-use demand, yet EU recycling rates for plastic packaging hover below 40% (StopWaste, 2024). In Ireland, only 30% of plastic packaging waste was recycled in 2023, leaving approximately 250,000 tonnes unrecycled and triggering €200 million in EU Plastics Own Resource levies (EPA Ireland, 2025). That's enough to fill roughly 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools, intensifying landfill burdens and ocean contamination.

Circular Solution

Ecoroots, a participant of the 2025 CIRCULÉIRE Venture Accelerator, produces mycelium-based biomaterials from agricultural and industrial waste, replacing plastic and polystyrene in protective packaging for fragile goods like cosmetics, beverages, and pharmaceuticals. The company grows mycelium, the root network of mushrooms, on waste substrates like spent grain from whiskey distilleries, forming a strong, mouldable bio-foam that is 100% compostable.

Ecoroots employs a closed-loop process using waste heat and rainwater for zero-waste production. Its digital platform delivers end-to-end traceability by analysing waste inputs, optimising growth conditions (temperature, humidity, CO₂), preventing drying defects, storing recipes, enabling predictive adjustments, triggering parameter alerts, and generating batch-level QA, traceability records, and ESG reports. This supports modular on-site grow-units, allowing partners like distilleries to convert residues into custom packaging.

Climate Impact

Ecoroots diverts agricultural and industrial waste from landfills. Irish whiskey production alone creates 350,000 tonnes of spent grain annually (Abolore, 2022), weighing 100,000 tonnes more than the world’s largest cruise ship. Each tonne of brewers’ spent grain landfilled emits 513 kilogrammes of CO₂e (LIFE-Brewery).

Ecoroots' materials decompose in 3-6 weeks in home compost, 90 days in landfills, or 180 days in oceans, enriching soil without microplastics (Ecoroots, n.d.). Compared to polystyrene, mycelium production emits far fewer GHGs, sequesters carbon (up to 70% more in some substrates) (BBC, n.d.), and cuts energy use by 90%.

Currently, 70% of Ireland's plastic packaging waste undergoes energy recovery incineration (EPA Ireland, 2025). Ecoroots curbs landfill methane and incineration-related carbon emissions by displacing non-recyclable plastics with mycelium alternatives, while valorising spent grain for biodegradable packaging production.

Replicability

EU policies are accelerating the shift to circular packaging like Ecoroots' mycelium alternatives. The Single-Use Plastics Directive bans expanded polystyrene food and drink containers since 2021 (EPA Ireland, 2025), while the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation mandates all packaging to be recyclable by 2030, alongside a 5% waste reduction target (European Commission, 2025; REPAK, 2025). Coupled with CSRD-mandated ESG disclosures, these frameworks heighten demand for compostable, traceable alternatives that deliver measurable circularity.

Europe's recyclable packaging market is projected to grow from 7.17 billion USD in 2025 to 12.26 billion USD by 2035 (CAGR 6%), driven by EU directives like PPWR targeting 55% plastic recycling by 2030 (Towards Packaging, 2026). As regulations tighten on packaging and the recyclable packaging market expands, circular solutions like Ecoroots are primed to tackle pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss, while valorising waste streams into revenue.

Other companies tackling packaging waste include:

• Myco, a Czech biotech company that develops and manufactures 100% natural, biodegradable mycelium‑based materials.

  
  

• Rebox, CIRCULÉIRE member, provides a circular approach to cardboard packaging by prioritising reuse over recycling.

  
  

• Mondi advances flexible packaging circularity through its FlexStudios R&D, targeting 100% reusable/recyclable products by 2025.

Note on By-Products & End of Waste 

A by-product is a residue left over from the production of another product. In Ireland, Regulation 27 of the Waste Directive sets out the circumstances in which a material can be considered a by-product and not a waste. It is essential you notify the EPA to determine if your material satisfies the criteria of a by-product. The EPA will confirm if it can be categorised as a by-product or if it must be categorised as a waste. If the substance is classified as a waste, then it may need to achieve End-of-Waste status via Article 28 of the Waste Directive to be kept in use as a resource.