Oyster[Crete] Could Be the Concrete Substitute Building Material of the Future

Amaze Lab

Oysters are a common seafood enjoyed by billions of people around the globe. However, researchers are now saying that one day they could be turned into something we can build with.

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00:00These are oysters, a common seafood enjoyed by billions of people around the globe.

00:07However, researchers are now saying, one day these could be turned into something more like this.

00:12The developers of the material are calling it Oystercrete,

00:15and they say the bioalternative might also help humanity with our carbon problem.

00:19This is Mukha C. Surayotan, who first came up with the idea while studying architecture at University College London.

00:25She says she was tasked with finding alternative building materials.

00:28When she passed the Borough Market, where she said they threw out some 5,000 oyster shells every day.

00:34So, we sort of took that shells and like saw the potential in the shells,

00:41and it has the same chemical composition as limestone, so that's how Oystercrete began.

00:51The process involves crushing the shells and mixing them with sand and clay.

00:54However, the resulting Oystercrete is still 80% oyster shells.

00:59Currently, their projects are small, creating objects like trays and furniture,

01:02but they have their site set much larger.

01:05So, these are sort of our beginning point,

01:09but the main goal, we want to test it in a larger scale application,

01:15like for architectural wall cladding, interior design.

01:20The hope is that someday, alternatives like this might replace traditional concrete,

01:24of which the manufacturing contributes 6% of global CO2 emissions.

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