A Taiwanese man has helped reduce waste by developing an eco-friendly alternative to synthetic textiles: sea wool.
He uses oyster shells, which, when crushed and processed, can be spun into a stretchy yarn similar to sheep’s wool, hence the nickname “sea wool.”
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture, restaurants and fisheries throw away 160,000 metric tons of shells every year.
Incidentally, this is not necessarily waste, as some fisheries throw this “waste” onto oyster reefs. Shells are 95% calcium carbonate, which is the perfect ingredient for restoring and growing living oyster reefs. Old shells significantly increase the surface area that oyster larvae can stick to.
Eddie Wang grew up in western Taiwan, where oyster and other shellfish production has long been a profitable local industry. The South China Morning Post reports that Wang first came up with the idea of turning shells into threads after seeing poor locals using crushed oysters to insulate their homes.
As it turned out, it was a great idea, and several technologists were interested in collaborating with Eddy to develop the industry and make it competitive with “traditional” clothing manufacturing.
Today, Wang’s factory produces 900 tons of sea wool threads a year and earns about $6 million in gross revenue.