There are 50 million tons of electronic waste produced per year, including computer chips which are made from un-recyclable plastic. Within each chip, the substrate—an insulating and cooling layer that transmits data—is the most difficult to recycle, but scientists are trying to remedy that. Martin Kaltenbrunner at Austria’s Johannes Kepler University and his colleagues built a biodegradable electronic substrate using the skin of the ganoderma …
Building Sustainable Computer Chips Out of Mushrooms