The fungal cure: Harnessing mycelial approach as sustainable green solution for industrial waste treatment

Industrialization has intensified releases of complex waste streams (e.g., synthetic dyes, petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and plastics) whose treatment can be costly, energy-intensive, and often incomplete using conventional physicochemical methods. 'Mycoremediation' defined as fungi mediated remediation, or their secreted materials/enzymes offers compelling advantages. These advantages stem across the extensive mycelial networks for matrix penetration, non-specific oxidative enzyme systems that transform lignin-like xenobiotics, and cell-wall chemistries that sorb metal ions. This review synthesizes mechanistic foundations on fungal enzymes (laccases; class II peroxidases such as manganese peroxidase and lignin peroxidase; biosorption and biomineralization), bioengineering strategies (CRISPR/Cas editing, artificial consortia), process intensification (immobilized-laccase reactors; whole-cell formats), and applications across textile dye effluents, petroleum-impacted soils/sediments, heavy-metal bearing wastewaters/soils, and polymer-rich wastes. Emerging evidence shows robust lab and mesocosm performance like rapid dye decolorization in fungal cartridge systems, significant alteration of petroleum (saturate, aromatic, resin and asphaltene-SARA) fractions under estuarine salinities, and high-capacity metal biosorption, while systematic verification for plastics remains a priority. Fungi sustainability assessments identify life-cycle hot spots in enzyme production and immobilization supports; techno-economic analyses suggest feasibility pathways when biocatalyst durability and reuse are optimized. This review also delves into regulatory frameworks for contained use and deliberate environmental release of engineered fungi, shaping the near-term deployments toward contained bioreactors. It concludes by projecting the combination of bioengineering (strain/secretome control), reactorization (immobilized catalysts, modular beds), and standardized metrics (toxicity, mass balance, life-cycle assessment-LCA/techno-economic analysis-TEA) for accelerating the transition of mycoremediation from promising prototypes to field-validated, scalable technologies for industrial waste treatment.