Shellmet is a new helmet design by TBWA\Hakuhodo’s creative team and Osaka-based Koushi Chemical Industry Co, made using Hokkaido’s discarded scallop shells

A small village on the tip of Japan’s northernmost island Hokkaido may have found an innovative solution to managing a yearly pile of 40,000 tons of discarded scallop shells from the area’s seafood industry. Cleaned, pulverised, and mixed with recycled plastic, the shells are transformed into Shellstic (a portmanteau of shell and plastic), an environmentally friendly material that can be moulded and used in much the same way as regular plastics. Left on the ground, the shells are feared to cause soil contamination and are a big concern for the locals.

Recycling shells into plastic doesn't only help to reduce CO2 emissions as compared to producing 100 per cent new plastic, but also adds strength to the finished material.

Original article here: https://www.wallpaper.com/design-interiors/shellmet-recycled-scallop-shells-helmet