University of Bath: Turkey Tail Fungus Turns Construction Waste Into Low-Carbon Insulation
- Gauri Khanna
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Researchers at the University of Bath have used Trametes versicolor, the turkey tail fungus, to convert waste oriented strand board into a mycelium-based composite insulation material.
The fungus grows its mycelium network through the waste wood, breaking down organic matter and binding particles into a thermally insulating, fire-resistant composite without synthetic adhesives.
Carbon emissions from producing the material were more than ten times lower than conventional insulation options, pointing to a potential route for decarbonising one of construction's most persistent waste problems.
A Persistent Problem in the Building Industry
Construction and demolition generate enormous volumes of waste, and wood sits at the heart of it. Wood waste accounts for almost a third of all construction and demolition waste, and nearly 10% of total landfill waste. Much of this wood is not ordinary timber. Oriented strand board, or OSB, is an engineered panel product made from compressed wood flakes bonded with synthetic resins. It is used widely in walls, flooring and roof decking, and when it reaches the end of its life, it is typically burned or buried. The synthetic resins that give OSB its strength also make it difficult to recycle; when it decomposes, it can release toxic chemicals and greenhouse gases.
Researchers at the University of Bath, led by Joni Wildman from the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, set out to find a biological route around this problem.
What Turkey Tail Does to Waste Wood
The approach centres on Trametes versicolor, a wood-rotting fungus found throughout UK woodlands and commonly known as turkey tail. The researchers chipped and soaked waste OSB, then introduced the fungus to the material. Despite the presence of synthetic additives, turkey tail grew successfully through the substrate.
As the fungus grows, it sends out mycelium: a dense network of thread-like filaments that break down organic material and absorb nutrients. In this process, the mycelium acts as a natural binder, knitting the loose wood particles into a firm, cohesive composite. The resulting material demonstrated thermal performance comparable to conventional insulation products, including expanded polystyrene, extruded polystyrene and mineral wool, while also showing fire-resistant properties.
Crucially, the carbon footprint of producing this biomaterial was more than ten times lower than that of the conventional alternatives tested. The team noted that energy use during the drying phase represented the largest remaining source of emissions in the process.
This builds on broader research into mycelium insulation, which has examined how different fungal species perform thermally, and sits within a growing effort to develop mycelium-based materials at commercial scale.
Two Jobs at Once
What distinguishes this study from earlier mycelium composite research is the dual function the fungus performs. Many existing mycelium-based composites use agricultural byproducts or fast-growing crops as their substrate. Wildman's team points out that these materials, while classified as waste, retain value in animal feed, textiles and pulping. Waste OSB has no such competing uses. By demonstrating that turkey tail can process a genuinely problematic waste stream, rather than a recoverable one, the research makes a case for a more circular approach to construction materials.
Project supervisor Dr Andrew Shea, also from the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at Bath, described the findings as an encouraging step towards using biology to rethink how materials are made and used in building construction.
Limitations and the Road Ahead
The research remains at an early stage. The team has yet to demonstrate industrial-scale production, and the energy demands of the drying process need to be reduced before the full carbon advantage can be realised. Long-term durability and performance under varying moisture conditions have not yet been assessed. The researchers plan to address these questions in further work, and intend to explore whether similarly challenging waste streams, including plastics and toxic materials, might also be amenable to fungal transformation.
