Mycocycle Research Partnership Awarded Funding from REMADE Institute

The 24-month project will collect data and develop a life cycle analysis with metrics on embodied energy, emissions and costs for metalware and plastic materials used in the healthcare sector.

Mycocycle, Inc., a leader in using mycoremediation to process toxins out of waste, announced that it was selected to receive funding from REMADE Institute for the research project Building a Sustainable Supply Chain of Materials for the U.S. Healthcare Sector. Partnering with Mycocycle on the project are The MITRE Corporation, Braskem, Covanta and Antea Group.

"Mycocycle's role will be to employ our technology on plastic waste streams, as a low-energy, low-carbon process to create reuse options for materials long-term," said Mycocycle CEO Joanne Rodriguez. "At the end of two years, Mitre will have measured the embodied energy, LCA, and costs associated with deploying different technologies to combat plastic waste within healthcare."

The project will build collaborative expertise across the healthcare sector, materials sciences and waste management to quantify areas of circularity in metalware and plastics and, therefore, reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain.

"The transition to a net-zero greenhouse gas economy will require an unprecedented reduction in the embodied energy and carbon emissions associated with foundational industrial materials in every critical sector—from healthcare, to agriculture, to transportation," said Kelly Speakes-Backman, principal deputy assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). "By investing in technologies that improve our ability to re-use, recycle and remanufacture these materials, DOE is moving America toward a circular economy and reducing carbon emissions across the manufacturing sector."

Because the waste streams Mycocycle will be treating contain the thermoplastic polymer—polypropylene, the company anticipates applying similar treatments to waste materials in other industries like clothing and textiles or roofing and building materials which frequently use similar polymers.

About Mycocycle
Mycocycle, Inc. was founded in October 2018. It is a woman-owned, early stage cleantech company using mycoremediation to process toxins out of waste. Mycocycle was the winner of the 2021 1871 Momentum Awards as an Industry Disrupter, recognized as a Finalist in FastCompany's "2021 World Changing Ideas" Awards issue, recognized as a Forbes "Next1000" Entrepreneur, selected as a Top 100 Global Deeptech Pioneer by Hello Tomorrow, and a 2020 Innovation selection in the EPA's Innovation and America Recycle's Fair. Mycocycle has been named a 2021 Illinois Qualified New Business Venture under the Angel Investment Tax Credit Program. This program provides Illinois-based investors a state tax credit of 25 percent of their investment up to $2 million. For more information visit http://www.mycocycle.com.

About REMADE
Founded in 2017, REMADE is a 132-member public-private partnership established by the U.S. Department of Energy with an initial investment of $140 million. REMADE is the only national institute focused entirely on the development of innovative technologies to accelerate the U.S.'s transition to a Circular Economy. In partnership with industry, academia, and national laboratories, the REMADE Institute enables early-stage applied research and development that will create jobs, dramatically reduce embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions, and increase the supply and use of recycled materials. The cumulative, five-year embodied energy savings, greenhouse gas reduction and increase in recycled materials use expected to result from this investment is approximately 1 Quad of energy, about 50 million metric tons of CO2equivalent greenhouse gas reduction, and more than a 40 million metric tons per year increase in the supply and use of recycled materials, respectively. For additional information about the REMADE Institute, visit http://www.remadeinstitute.org.