Scallops and plastics don’t sound like an appetizing combo. But a Japanese chemical company has found a way to create a safety helmet out of the mollusks’ discarded shells and recycled plastics.
Koushi Chemical Industry calls the hard hat Shellmet. The company has been working with the seaside village of Sarufutsu, known for its scallop industry, to reuse shells thrown out during processing in an effort to reduce plastics use and marine waste, according to a Jan. 10 company news release.
The design is based on the concept of biomimicry, which employs mechanisms of the natural world for technological development. Shellmet incorporates a special rib structure in its design that mimics the structure of scallop shells. The rib structure improves the durability of the helmet by about 30%.
The Soya district, where Sarufutsu Village is located, generates about 40,000 tons of scallop shell waste a year. The county stopped exporting scallop shells for reuse in 2021, leaving the region with a potential environmental issue.
When processing factories separate scallop and oyster shells they typically pay a disposal company to discard them, but sometimes they sit in piles as they await pick up. This can produce foul odors and have an environmental impact, according to the company.
Scallop shells contain calcium carbonate. The company realized it could reuse the shells by mixing the calcium carbonate into the plastic. The material improves the strength of the plastic by about 33%, according to Koushi Chemical. The manufacturing process generates 36% less CO2 emissions compared to the use of 100% new plastic, the company said. It also generates 20% less CO2 than limestone-derived eco-plastics, according to the company.
The company plans to initially market the helmets to fishermen in Sarufutsu Village and eventually produce stockpiles of them for disaster prevention.
.
