Waste Into Gold: Oyster Shells Repurposed As Magic 'Seawool'

The Gijin Seafood Factory uses around 100 tonnes of oyster shells a year to churn out around 900 tonnes of Seawool, a trademarked and patented fabric (Credit: AFP)

Growing up on Taiwan's west coast where mollusc farming is popular, Eddie Wang saw discarded oyster shells transformed from waste to function -- a memory that inspired him to create a unique and environmentally friendly fabric called "Seawool".

Wang remembered that residents of his seaside hometown of Yunlin used discarded oyster shells that littered the streets during the harvest as insulation for their homes.