Plastic-Eating Fungi Could Help Tackle America’s Diaper Landfill Crisis

A Texas-based startup has launched an innovative product that combines two unlikely forces: baby diapers and fungi. According to Reuters journalist Evan Garcia, Hiro Technologies’ new “MycoDigestible Diapers” are disposable nappies that come with a pouch of fungi designed to break down the plastic once the diaper is used and thrown away.

The concept is surprisingly simple. The fungi activate when exposed to moisture from urine or feces and begin digesting the diaper’s plastic components. Within months, the product turns into soil-like material. The aim? To combat the massive environmental footprint of disposable diapers—estimated at over 4 million tons of waste annually in the U.S. alone, according to the EPA.

Co-founders Miki Agrawal and Tero Isokauppila are leading the project. Isokauppila, who previously founded mushroom wellness brand Four Sigmatic, explained that fungi are nature’s original recyclers. Many species can digest tough compounds like lignin found in trees, which share a similar carbon structure with plastics. Some fungi, like Pestalotiopsis microspora (first discovered in Ecuador), can even survive in oxygen-deprived landfill conditions.

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In Hiro’s Austin lab, jars show the transformation from diaper to soil over nine months. Although the startup still needs more real-world testing before making bold environmental claims, their work is generating buzz with eco-conscious parents and investors. The company is already planning to expand to adult incontinence and feminine hygiene products.

It’s a small but promising move toward reducing plastic pollution, especially from products we rarely think about after disposal. If you’re a parent or caregiver, this is a chance to ditch conventional diapers and back a plant-based solution that turns waste into earth.

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