Project

Fungi waste treats water waste

Water pollution is a growing problem that affects both the environment and our health. Harmful chemicals like pesticides, medicines, PFAS and textile dyes are contaminating our water, leading to serious health issues such as cancer and high cholesterol. Traditional water treatment methods often struggle to remove these pollutants, and this is making clean water harder to find.

Our solution uses natural organisms, like fungi, to remove these harmful substances from water. For example, we’ve discovered that waste from the white button mushrooms mushroom industry can clean up to 100% of certain pollutants in less than a day. This method is not only highly effective but also sustainable and affordable, as it repurposes waste that would otherwise be discarded.

What’s even more exciting is that our method can remove stubborn pollutants like PFAS, which are difficult to get rid of using conventional treatments. This approach is a fresh and innovative way to tackle water pollution while supporting a circular economy, where waste is transformed into something valuable.

In this project, our goal is to clean water in a way that benefits both people and the planet. We are now focused on making sure the process is safe and doesn’t create any new harmful byproducts. By doing a market-analyse and setting up our business plan during this BB project,we hope at the end to improve water quality. In this way we can help protect the health of all living things that rely on clean water.

Project team

Brigit van Brenk

Project Number

BIOB24024

Year granted

2024

Status

Ongoing

Applicant

Utrecht University

Funding

€ 200.000

Sector/Industry

Environment, Waste, Water

SDG's

Clean water and sanitation (SDG 6)
Industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9)

Thematic Cluster

TC1: Industrial Biotechnology & Production

Level

Level 1
Molecuul

2024

Year granted

Utrecht University

Applicant

€ 200.000

Project funded

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Citaat

Biotech Booster helps us through funding and by providing us with a network to validate where we can make the best impact with our new analysis device.

Biotechnology netherlands

Carlos de Lannoy

Constellate

Citaat

What we look forward to most is leveraging the extraordinary network of Biotech Booster that we need to get foot in the market, get know-how, and understanding the competitive field which is necessary for setting up successful operations.

Biotechnology netherlands

Pim Schaasberg & Martin Pabst

ProteoT

Moleculen

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