Sporo - From urban waste stream to mushroom

Making substrate from coffee grounds, among other things, isn't easy. That's the conclusion we can safely draw after the past 12 years.

Sterilizing this residual flow is essential, especially if we want to make production efficient and scalable. Rotterzwam has been working on a method to make this possible for the past year and a half and is now moving this activity to a new, separate entity: Sporo bv. Sporo aims to produce 3,000 tons of substrate annually based on urban residual flows. This will save approximately 1,200 tons of coffee grounds from incineration, and there is also room to process another 1,200 tons of brewer's grains, pruning waste, and wood waste.

The innovative sterilization method allows Sporo to effectively process organic urban waste flows into substrate.

Sporo expects to be able to put the demonstration factory into operation in mid-2025.

Once the demo plant is up and running, rotterzwam will be able to fully resume mushroom cultivation using the coffee grounds we collect in the Rijnmond region. This will also allow the nursery's capacity to be scaled to other regions, such as The Hague.

Sporo will produce substrate from the following mushroom species:

• Gray oyster mushroom
• King oyster mushroom ( eryngii)
• Shiitake
• Lion's mane (Lion's mane)
• Pouch mushroom (Nameko)

Sporo is still looking for partners who can help them with:

• Coffee grounds
• Brewers' grains
• Wood shavings/sawdust
• Logistical transport of residual flows and substrate
• Customers of circular substrate

More information about Sporo