Every year over 7 million tons of shells are thrown into landfills by the fishing industry. The shells are not biodegradable and have a very high disposal cost which damages the environment and restaurateurs. What to do?
An innovative materials laboratory (all female) called Newtab-22 created Sea Stone, a natural product made from shell waste recovered from the fish and aquaculture industries. It is a sustainable alternative to using the concrete (a major carbon emitter) in making smaller products.
From shells to houses
Sea Stone is made by grinding seashells destined for landfill before combining them with natural, non-toxic binders. The goal is to make it a sustainable alternative for making small-scale products, as the two materials share similar properties.
After all, shells are rich in calcium carbonate also known as limestone. And limestone is used to make cement, a key ingredient in concrete.
The process involves grinding the shells and mixing them with natural binders: the shells are then added to a mold and left to solidify into concrete-like tiles. This method is currently done manually to avoid the use of heat, electricity and chemical treatments and ensure the process is as sustainable and cost-effective as possible. With a curious “side effect”: results in variations in the sizes, textures and colors of the shell fragments and makes each piece of Sea Stone unique. You can get different textures by changing the number of seashells, binders, or adding colored dyes for aesthetics.
A wonderful alternative
Most shells end up in landfills or on the seashore. Discarded shells accumulate near the beach for a long time, polluting the surrounding land in the long term. Sea Stone proposes the use of discarded shells to create environmentally and economically sustainable material,” he explained
Newtab-22
Newtab-22 pioneered a number of natural binders in the development of Sea Stone, including sugar and agar. It now relies on two undisclosed and patent pending sources. The material is currently under development for commercial purposes and has so far been used to make products such as decorative tiles, table tops, plinths and vases.
Why is Sea Stone less strong than concrete?
Good question, which should be answered clearly. Although the properties of concrete and Sea Stone are similar, to truly replicate the strength of traditional concrete required in large-scale projects such as buildings, an energy-intensive heating process would be required. This would be comparable to the method used to produce cement, which accounts for half of all CO2 emissions that result from the use of concrete.
In summary? Using shells to produce a “cement” capable of building large structures would pollute almost as much as concrete. “The power of the material is different, we don't want to harm the environment in the process or the result,” he says Hyein Choi, co-founder of the firm.
Sea Stone is a versatile, durable and lightweight alternative not only to concrete but also to plastic: it can be used to produce various objects by recycling waste, reducing the carbon emissions of toxic counterparts and keeping costs low. It's time to look for those children who sell shells by the sea: it's shopping :)
