Vegan leather made from mushrooms could shape the future of the leather industry

Vegan mushroom leather is artificial or semi-synthetic leather made from fungi and offers an ethical alternative to natural leather.

Genuine leather remains one of the most durable and versatile natural materials. However, some consumers question the ethical implications and environmental sustainability of using animal-derived products.

This shift in social norms is the main reason we are seeing a wave of industrial alternatives heading into the market. Synthetic polymer leather alternatives fare better in terms of environmental sustainability, and have achieved significant market share in recent years.

But these materials face the same disposal issues as any synthetic plastic. Therefore, the leather market began to look forward to other innovations. It may sound strange, but the final contender is mushrooms.

In an article by journalist Linda Nordling published on the website of the journal Nature on Sept. 12, fermentor Zhuzhou Huang who works for Mycorena, a biotechnology company that grows a plant protein based on fungi, says, “The company started in 2017 and we are headquartered in In Gothenburg, Sweden, the fungal protein we grow can be used to manufacture a variety of products, from vegetable hides to animal feed and meat substitutes.”

What is vegetable mushroom skin?

According to an article published on "The Conversation" in September 2020, vegetable mushroom skin is artificial or semi-synthetic skin from fungi and offers an ethical alternative to natural leather. These techniques take advantage of mycelium. When mycelium is grown on sawdust or agricultural waste, it forms a thick mat that can then be treated to resemble leather.

The process is very simple, and can be completed with minimal equipment and resources by craftsmen. It can also be industrially tuned for mass production, and the end product looks like animal skin, having similar durability.

Because mycelium is used, not mushrooms, this natural biological process can be done anywhere, as it does not require light, converts waste into useful materials, and stores carbon by accumulating it in the developing fungi.

The transition from a single spore to a "skin of the fungus" product takes two weeks, compared to the years needed to raise a cow to maturity. Mild acids, alcohols, and dyes are commonly used to modify the fungal material, which is pressed, dried, and etched.

What's wrong with normal skin?

Leather is a material made from animal skin and commonly used for fashion, and the industry slaughters billions of animal heads every year to make clothes, shoes, handbags, and other accessories.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the leather industry is responsible for about 14% of all greenhouse emissions, and livestock farming alone accounts for about 65% of that share. Leather production is associated with animal husbandry, and its manufacture requires environmentally toxic chemicals, leather tanning is still energy and resource intensive and produces a lot of waste during processing.

Processing animal-derived textiles requires tons of harmful chemicals that pollute rivers, water sources and soils, as they are often released untreated into the nearby environment.

Currently, more consumers around the world are choosing alternatives to clothing, bags, shoes and accessories made from animals, such as mushroom leather made from natural resources.