MDes Design Innovation & Circular Economy School of Innovation & Technology
Hanqi Tang
Product Designer. Biodesigner. Service Innovator.
With a background in product design, I am passionate about developing feasible and dynamic solutions that address the challenges of a rapidly changing environment.
My recent work focuses on circular economy principles, exploring how biodesign can address bread waste in Scotland’s Moray region. By repurposing leftover bread as a substrate for growing mushrooms and mycelium, I aim to create a hyperlocal “bread” network, fostering collective action and sustainable practices.
Works
BreadMyco
Why do people throw away 20,000,000 slices of bread daily in the UK, despite its resulting 584,000 tons of CO2 emissions? The main scenario for bread waste is in households, with the root cause being the low value of individual slices, leading people to disregard them.
After researching local bread waste and reviewing related literature, I discovered an opportunity: leftover bread, rich in carbohydrates, fiber, and protein, can serve as excellent substrates for cultivating biomaterials like mushrooms, that is, mycelium.
This poses an interesting speculation: what if we could assign greater value to surplus bread by using it to grow mycelium, thus changing how people dispose of bread? By establishing a local network called “BreadMyco,” residents could donate their leftover bread to participating community gardens. These gardens would then use the bread to cultivate mushrooms and mycelium. In return, residents would receive mushrooms, adding value to surplus bread. Additionally, Mycelium companies could also procure materials through BreadMyco.
This design linking local residents, community gardens, and mycelium material companies into a hyperlocal network focused on reducing bread waste.
