Can Diaper-Eating Mushrooms Save The Planet?

We’ve heard about plastic-eating mushrooms, and even fungi thriving in the radioactive soil of Chernobyl. But now, a startup is aiming even bigger: using fungi to break down disposable diapers — a massive source of plastic waste.

HIRO Technologies (co-founded by mushroom entrepreneur Tero Isokauppila and period-wear pioneer Miki Agrawal) is deploying a mycelium-based solution to tackle diaper waste and, by extension, the broader plastic crisis.

The Idea Was Inspired By Real Life Experience

For Tero, this feels like a natural next step. After a career in functional mushrooms, nutrition and psychedelics, he became fascinated with environmental applications of mycology:

“I studied chemistry and nutrition, and that inspired me to get into the [functional mushroom and mycology] worlds through health wellness, and then later, psychedelics,” he told DoubleBlind.

“Along the way, I obviously was also exposed to the environmental potential of mushrooms and mycoremediation. … And what I know is that certain fungal species [are] able to break down the plastic polymers of diapers.”

Though he’s since stepped back operationally, he remains a major shareholder. Miki first approached him in 2020 with the concept. He was resistant — until 2021, when the birth of their first child brought home the scale of the problem: he found himself changing nearly 14 diapers a day.

“I didn’t realise how massive this [waste] problem is. Diapers are the number one household plastic waste item. At that point, I told [Miki], ‘Okay, I’m in. Let’s do it. The world needs this, right?’”

Why Diapers Are a Big Deal in the Plastic-Waste Equation

Disposable diapers rank among the largest single-use plastic waste items in households. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), infant and adult disposable diapers generated 4.1 million tons of solid waste in the U.S. in 2018 alone. And that figure doesn’t even account for global volumes. Other studies estimate around 27 billion soiled disposable diapers get buried in U.S. landfills each year.

“Every disposable diaper ever created is still sitting in a landfill today,” Tero says.
“By solving the diaper problem, we can also solve most consumer plastic issues in the future. So it was like an Archimedes lever. If we can do the diaper, we can do almost any [type of waste].”

Since conventional diapers take roughly 450 to 500 years to decompose (as reported in Science of the Total Environment), the idea of accelerating that timeline is compelling.

The Fungal-Breakdown Solution: Mycoremediation Meets Diaper Waste

HIRO’s technology builds on more than a decade of research into fungi that can degrade plastic polymers. For example: a review study found that many members of fungal groups (Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mucoromycota) have shown plastic-degrading capacity.

Tero explains:

“We tested 34 [mycelium] species, and along the way, we’ve added a couple more dozen. So we’ve tested dozens and dozens of types [of fungi]. When we started commercialising, we took the top five that we’ve now been working with the most … that show the most efficacy.”

He calls it a “superhero fungal blend.”

While HIRO wouldn’t disclose which exact species are in the blend, their approach is consistent with the broader science. For instance:

• A 2023 experiment by researchers at University of Sydney found that two common fungi (Aspergillus terreus and Engyodontium album) were able to degrade polypropylene plastics in laboratory conditions, showing roughly 21-27% reduction over 30-90 days.
• Marine fungi isolated from Hawaiʻi’s near-shore environment (over 60% of the samples) showed some plastic-degrading ability; some improved their “feeding rates” by 15% in just three months of conditioning.

So there is a foundation: fungal species can and do break down plastics — which backs up HIRO diaper’s-solution with some hard-science credibility.

Consumer Launch + Business Model: A Subscription for Sustainability

In April, HIRO launched its first product: a bundle priced at US $119 per month or a one-time US $136 purchase. The package includes: six packs of unbleached diapers (roughly a one-month supply), a month’s supply of HIRO fungi pouches, and four packs of water-based wipes.

Yes — it’s costlier than many conventional diaper + wipes setups (which might run about $60 + $30/month in the U.S.). But the premium buys:

• Unbleached diapers (fewer chemicals)
• Water-based wipes (lower chemical burden)
• A fungi-based system designed to accelerate breakdown of the plastic component

Beyond baby-care, HIRO’s vision is broader: the fungal blend is intended to continue colonising in landfill settings after use — and ultimately, the company hopes the same mycelial tech can be applied to other plastics beyond diapers.

The Caveats: Why the Technology Isn’t (Yet) a Silver Bullet

Tero is refreshingly candid about the limitations :

“We cannot yet make a compostability claim around how fast the diapers will decompose because even though we have studies to show sub-one-year degradation, we need to be able to replicate that in all conditions within one standard deviation. … So we’re not ready to give a timeframe, but we are very, very confident that it will be at least 10 times better [and faster] than the current solutions.”

To break it down:

• Lab and pilot results are promising, but real-world landfill conditions (moisture, temperature variation, microbial competition, waste mix) are far more complex.
• Scaling remains the key challenge: how to reliably mass-produce the fungal pouch system, ensure consistent performance across geographies, and integrate into waste-management infrastructure.
• Cost remains higher than conventional alternatives — which means adoption depends on households willing to pay a premium for sustainability.
• Even in the broader field of fungal plastic-degradation: some polymers (e.g., polyethylene, polypropylene) are proving more stubborn. For example, a German study found microfungi degraded polyurethane well but had much slower rates on polyethylene and tyre-rubber microplastics.

Why This Matters in the Bigger Picture of Plastic Waste

At a time when “sustainability” is often over-used and under-delivered, initiatives like this present tangible potential. The idea here is simple but bold: harness an organism that’s been evolving for millions of years (fungi) to help us deal with one of our most persistent human-made problems — plastic in landfills.

If the diaper use-case works, it could open doors to:

• Adult incontinence products (another large single-use plastic category)
• Other polyethylene or polypropylene-based single-use items (e.g., packaging, plastic films)
• Landfill-level mycoremediation systems where treated waste becomes part of a biological cycle

And from a consumer mindset: imagine buying a diaper product not just for your baby’s comfort but for its end-of-life impact. That shifts the narrative from just “less bad” to actively restorative.

Final Thoughts

So — does fungi have what it takes to solve our diaper waste problem? The short answer: it might. The science is real. The problem is real. And a startup like HIRO is putting the two together in a bold, consumer-facing experiment.

The longer answer, though, is nuanced: the concept is grounded in legitimate mycoremediation research; the consumer product is live; but the true proof will come from scale, real-world performance, cost curves, and infrastructure integration.

In a world drowning in single-use plastics, it’s refreshing to see “nature” — in the form of fungi — reappear as part of the solution. If this works, it could reframe how we think about “waste” entirely.