What if we could design out waste?

We have figured out how to collaborate with nature’s ancient technology — decomposer fungi — to support the breakdown of the HIRO Diaper.

OUR LAB EXPERIMENTS

Our lab testing shows colonization of various diaper materials and other common non-wovens. It compares fungi and non-fungi products in the lab, where you can clearly see fungal colonization and digestion (evidenced by the yellow residue of digestive enzymes and the white fungal biomass against the test jar). The figure also shows the shelf-stable fungal technology emerging from stasis after 12 days.

Digestion of diaper plastics by Hiro friendly fungi.

Dirty diapers cut up without any fungi treatment.

Same diapers after 21 days of friendly, plastic-eating fungi.

The HIRO fungi pouches wake up in landfills after ~2 weeks. Image is of Pouch on day 12.

Hygienix

2024 Innovation Award Winner

NATURE HEALING NATURE

In nature, waste doesn’t exist. Everything has a role in an intricate web of interdependence — what one organism discards, another transforms. HIRO embraces this principle, weaving care for the planet into the very fabric of daily life.

We have taken inspiration from nature’s own methods of breaking down organic material. Fungi have been evolving for hundreds of millions of years to break down complex carbon materials, and plastics are no different. It’s in our mushroom’s DNA to eat plastics.

Our philosophy is to do our best to leave the world better than we received it. Our friendly fungi are trained experts: they’re safe to use, eliminate waste, and replenish soil to be healthy and nutrient-rich.

We believe in the principle of regeneration. We want to be part of restoring and replenishing the Earth, not only avoiding harming it.

IT STARTS WITH DIAPERS

Every baby goes through about 6,000 diapers before childhood, making diapers the #1 household plastic waste item and the #3 contributor to landfills. Each one is packed with petroleum-based plastics that take centuries to break down, leaving behind microplastics that infiltrate our soil, water, and even our bodies.

The plastics found in diapers aren’t unique—they make up 75% of all soft plastics, the same ones polluting oceans, food packaging, and everyday products. If we can solve diapers, we can take on the biggest plastic offenders across industries.

That’s why we started here. By tackling the hardest-to-break-down product first, we’re building the blueprint for a plastic-free future —one where innovation and nature work together to eliminate waste at the source. If we can reimagine diapers, we believe that we can reimagine the entire system.

After 4+ years of research and design, we have achieved a breakthrough in fungal digestion of plastics.

From Plastic

To Nature

Just add our friendly fungi.

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The diaper that returns to the Earth.

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