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One of the worst things to see on the side of the road—besides a very unfortunate animal—is an abandoned mattress. Dealing with unwanted mattresses is admittedly difficult; you can’t exactly stuff them into a trash bin. New research, however, has found an unexpected use for this bulky, cumbersome waste.
In a study published late last year in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers created heat-resistant insulation materials for buildings using shredded mattress foam and fungi. Their work suggests a strategy that could help keep discarded mattresses out of landfills (and off the streets) and in the economy, contributing once again to the comfort of buildings.
It’s difficult to recycle mattresses. They “are durable, bulky, and often end up in landfill,” The Hong Phong Nguyen, co-author of the study and a biotechnologist at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, says in a university statement. “Through natural biological processes, we can give this waste a second life.”
Simply put, Nguyen and his colleagues integrated shredded mattress foam into the growth of the fungus Penicillium chrysogenum. The fungi’s roots’ attachment to the foam creates natural mineral compounds that are able to sustain extreme heat, even nearing 1,000 degrees Celsius.
The substance as a whole is safe, light, and solid and “performed well as an insulator, with heat-blocking ability very close to commercial insulation products already used in homes and buildings,” Nguyen continued. “The approach is both practical and environmentally responsible, using fungus that is closely related to strains used in food production and medicine, and relying on common, widely used chemicals.”
In Australia, 1.8 million mattresses are discarded each year, with 750,000 ending up in landfills and creating around 22,000 metric tons of unnecessary waste, reported Tracey Pryor, Director of Innovation at the Australian Bedding Stewardship Council. Prior did not participate in the study. What’s more, each mattress needs as long as 120 years to break down, she said. In the United States, over 50,000 mattresses are tossed out every day, according to the Mattress Recycling Council.
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“Our work shows how combining biology with waste materials, while leveraging deep manufacturing science, can lead to smart, low-impact solutions that better the environment and the lives of everyone,” he concluded.
The study adds to previous work showing that fungi can be more than just absolutely terrifying. In fact, Nguyen would love to see a future where the team’s new substance could also become building panels, fire-resistant insulation, or perhaps be modeled for use in building techniques to come, like 3D-printed building blocks.
Here’s to a future where the old mattress that cradled your sleep for years continues being useful in the walls of your house, becoming the newest gift that just keeps giving.
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Source: Gizmodo