The packaging for your next computer could be grown, not manufactured. Dell has announced it will be the first technology company to ship a product in an organic, mushroom-based packaging material, which Wired.co.uk covered last year.
The biotechnology design uses agricultural waste, like cotton seed, wood fiber and buckwheat hulls, placed in a mould and inoculated with mushroom spores, so it becomes the root structure of the shroom and grows into the shape of the mould.
Cushioning protection for a large server takes about five to ten days to grow, and all the energy needed comes from the carbohydrates and sugars in the waste: no carbon or nuclear fuels required. It’s impressive stuff, and has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the US EPA, and the USDA.
As part of Dell’s pilot program, when you buy the PowerEdge R710 server (in the multipack packaging configuration, which slots four systems into one box to reduce materials), the usually-polystyrene innards will be organic, and grown from fungus. Instead of chucking them in the bin, you can lob them on the compost heap.
It’s just as rigid and protective to your desirable gadget as the old materials. “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,” explains Dell’s procurement director Oliver Campbell, “and it passed like a champ”.
Dell’s no stranger to planet-friendly packaging. A vast majority of its smaller products like notebooks, smartphones and the Streak tablet come in protective compartments made from bamboo.
The technology company has some tough targets for sustainability in its sights: by the end of 2012 it wants to shed 20 million pounds of packaging material from its shipments, and make 75 percent of packaging components recyclable on the curb.
