How Moldy Bread Might Save the Planet (and Reinvent Your Wardrobe)

Could the next big thing in fashion come from your food waste? At the University of Borås in

Sweden, scientists such as Prof. Akram Zamani and Kanishka Wijayarathna are making this a reality. They transform food waste into eco-friendly and trendy materials. Picture a leather jacket made without using cows or fabric threads created from fungus instead of cotton or polyester.

Microscopy picture of Rhizopus delemar. Image credits:  Kanishka Wijayarathna

The Bread-to-Leather Breakthrough

In a world drowning in fast fashion and food waste, researchers from the University of Borås

asked a bold question: What if we could tackle both problems with a single solution?

Their journey began with bread, one of the most wasted foods worldwide. Instead of tossing

stale loaves into the compost, the team used them to feed a fast-growing fungus called

Rhizopus delemar. This fungus produces a dense, fibrous network that resembles the

structure of animal hides when processed.

A prototype card holder made with fungal leather. Image credits:  Kanishka Wijayarathna

The team did not stop at simply growing fungal material. They treated it with vegetable

tannins, natural substances also used in traditional leather-making, giving it strength,

flexibility, and the look and feel of real leather. The result? A flexible, fully vegan alternative

leather material with a minimal environmental footprint.

Spinning Fibers from Fungi

However, why stop at leather? Inspired by nature’s designs, the team turned their attention to

textile. Can the same fungal material be converted into threads or yarns?

Single fibre and twisted multifibre yarns from fungi.

Using a technique called dry gel spinning, they transformed the fungal hydrogel into long,

continuous, stretchy, strong, and surprisingly versatile fibres. No toxic solvents. No fossil

fuels. This involves careful fungal culture and creative engineering.

Microscopy picture of Rhizopus delemar. Image credits:  Kanishka Wijayarathna

The resulting yarns matched the strength of conventional fibres such as nylon and polyester

without microplastic pollution or petrochemical inputs. They can even be twisted into

multifilament threads suitable for weaving into clothing, accessories, or upholstery. It is a

fashion revolution grown in a lab and fed on food waste.

A Truly Circular Solution

At its heart, this study is about more than just new materials. It is about rethinking waste.

Food waste and textile pollution are two of the most significant environmental challenges of

our time. By turning one into a solution for the other, this study creates a circular economy

model where nothing is wasted and everything has value. This is sustainability in action.

Their fungal fibres and bio composites are not just lab experiments. They have demonstrated

materials with mechanical properties that comparable to traditional leather and textile fibres,

proving that this is not science fiction. This is a viable, scalable, and profoundly necessary

alternative.

A prototype key chain made with fungal leather. Image credits:  Kanishka Wijayarathna

Why This Matters to You

Every item of clothing we wear has hidden costs. From water-guzzling cotton fields to leather

tanning processes filled with toxic chemicals, the environmental toll of fashion is enormous.

What if we could dress in materials that are not only stylish and functional but also help solve

the planet’s problems?

Thanks to the groundbreaking work in Borås, that future is closer than you think.

Therefore, the next time you think about throwing away a loaf of bread, consider this: it could

one day become your next handbag, jacket, or pair of shoes. In doing so, we can help stitch

together a better and more sustainable world.