Computer maker Dell announced the beginning of a pilot project for mushroom-based packaging, making it the first technology company to begin shipments cushioned in the sustainable packaging material.
 
Making packaging materials from mushrooms and common agricultural waste products such as cotton, rice, and wheat chaff is an initiative sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the US EPA, and the USDA, among others,
 
The sustainable materials replace styrofoam and polyethylene commonly used as cushioning, and they can be composted.
 
“We've tested the mushroom cushioning extensively in the lab to ensure it meets our same high standards to safely protect our products during shipment--and it passed like a champ,” Dell said in a blog post.
 
The initial pilot shipments will be for Dell’s PowerEdge R710 server in the Multipack packaging configuration. Four systems fit in one box, which dramatically reduce packaging material.
 
The mushroom cushioning is unique because it is grown and not manufactured in the traditional sense, Dell said. 
 
“The process works like this. Waste product like cotton hulls are placed in a mold which is then inoculated with mushroom spawn. Our cushions take 5 - 10 days to grow as the spawn, which become the root structure--or by the scientific name, mycelium--of the mushroom. All the energy needed to form the cushion is supplied by the carbohydrates and sugars in the ag waste. There's no need for energy based on carbon or nuclear fuels.”
 
Dell hopes the mushroom packaging will complement its bamboo packaging, providing a better option for heavier products like servers and desktops. 
 
Bamboo, which the company began using in 2009, is better suited for notebooks and smartphones, Dell said. Currently the company is shipping approximately half of its Inspiron line of consumer laptops in bamboo.
 
Dell aims to eliminate about 20 million pounds of packaging material from its shipments by the end of 2012, while cutting desktop and laptop packaging by around 10 percent, increasing sustainable content in cushioning and corrugate packaging by 40 percent. Dell also wants 75 percent of its packaging components to be curbside recyclable by 2012.

Photo by Packaging Digest

Reprinted with permission from Sustainable Life Media