The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2023–2024
Koushi Chemical turned a 40,000-ton pile of waste scallop shells into fishermen's helmets.
TBWA Hakuhodo and Koushi Chemical recycled surplus scallop shells into a stronger, lower-carbon helmet worn by the fishers who were leaving them as waste.
Koushi Chemical Industry · TBWA Hakuhodo
the move
Sarufutsu Village in Hokkaido has Japan's largest scallop catch, but when shell exporters withdrew in 2021 they left roughly 40,000 tons of discarded shells that experts say contaminate soil. The waste was a problem nobody owned.
Instead of paying to dispose of the shells, Koushi Chemical and TBWA Hakuhodo turned them into a product. Crushed, sterilised and blended with recycled plastic, the shells formed 'Shellstic', which was moulded into a helmet shaped by the shell's own rib structure.
The design is not just decorative: the ribbing gave the helmet 133% higher strength than a regular helmet, while using 100% recycled material cut CO2 emissions by up to 36% versus a plastic helmet. The original target user was the village's own fishers.
The idea made helmets a self-reinforcing loop — the more helmets produced, the fewer shells left behind. It went on to take a Cannes Lions Design award and a D&AD White Pencil for impact.
why it works
- It turns a costly liability into the safety gear the village already buys
- The shell's natural rib structure improves strength, so recycling is not a compromise
- Production and disposal are the same act, creating a genuinely closed loop
- The local problem is solved locally rather than exported as landfill
what transfers
When a waste stream is large and unavoidable, the cheapest disposal is to make the waste produce the thing the local economy already buys.
what came after
Shellmet hit 1,397% of its sales target in the first two months, recycled the shells off the waste pile, and won a Cannes Lions Design award plus a D&AD White Pencil. It also became the adopted helmet of Expo 2025 Osaka and was trialled as a general hard hat and cycling helmet.
references
- Shellmet (also sold under the name Hotamet)
- Cannes Lions: Design winners 2023
- Shellmet - A Helmet made from recycled scallop shells
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