Design Studios: BioMatters, Manufactura
Photographs: Dinorah Schulte, voxelmatters.com
Lobster Shell 3D Printing Composite material project by BioMatters and Manufactura in Maine has developed a biodegradable 3D printing composite from lobster shell waste for potential use in design and construction. Created during a residency at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, the material uses shells from Greenhead Lobster, ground and mixed with local ceramics like porcelain and binders to form a printable slurry. About fifteen shells yield two kilograms of material. Chitin in the shells adds durability, biodegradability, and antibacterial qualities, while ceramics improve strength and allow for firing. The material is under testing but is intended for blocks and finishes in building applications. Maine’s large-scale lobster industry offers a viable material stream, though environmental shifts may impact availability. The work connects to broader chitin-based research from institutions in Singapore and Germany. The studios emphasize that adoption depends on coordinated supply chains to process seafood waste at scale.
Design studios BioMatters, based in New York, and Manufactura, operating out of Mexico, have collaborated to develop a 3D-printing material derived from lobster shell waste, proposing its potential as a sustainable composite for both design and construction applications. The research was conducted during a joint residency at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine, a leading region in lobster harvesting. Shells were sourced through a partnership with Greenhead Lobster, a local seafood processor, where lobster exoskeletons, usually discarded during canning and processing, were collected and repurposed as raw material.
The shells were ground into a fine powder and blended with local ceramic materials, including porcelain, and binding agents to form a printable slurry. The composite was then extruded through a 3D printer. The teams reported that roughly 15 lobster shells produce two kilograms of the material, demonstrating a favorable ratio for prototyping and experimentation. The primary structural component of the shells, chitin, is a polysaccharide found in many arthropods and fungal cell walls. Its inclusion in the composite enhances biodegradability, durability, and antibacterial characteristics, while the ceramic additives increase strength and enable sintering.
“Our ultimate motivation is to develop blocks and finishes for building construction, leveraging the unique properties of the lobster shell composite to create sustainable and innovative building materials,” stated the team.
Although testing of the composite’s mechanical properties is ongoing, the studios suggest it could function as a substitute for traditional ceramics and construction materials. Given Maine’s current production scale, over 100 million pounds of lobster annually, the availability of shell waste presents a viable resource stream, although the teams note that changing ocean temperatures and overfishing could affect supply.
The concept follows a growing field of interest in chitin-based biocomposites. Earlier studies include a Martian biolith prototype by the Singapore University of Technology and Design, and lightweight fiber composites by the German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research, both using chitin as a key component.
The success of this material’s future adoption, according to the studios, will depend on coordinated efforts between harvesters, processors, and designers, and on developing infrastructure to efficiently collect and process seafood industry waste at scale.
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