Flex your mussels: Seastex makes acoustic tiles from bivalve beards

In London, a startup is creating performance materials from an unlikely source: the “beards” mussels extend outside of their shells to stay anchored.

Seastex sees the plastic-like fibers—also known as byssus—as an especially promising source of biobased materials because it does not compete with food. The company gets the material from mussels cultivated for human consumption using farming techniques that promote longer and stronger byssus. After some processing and drying, the company is left with a cloud-like material with interesting acoustic, fire-safety, and insulating properties.

Seastex’s first product, introduced late last year at the London Design Festival, was acoustic panels called Acoustic Byssus Core Tiles that can be used on walls and ceilings.  The company also offers a free collection service to recycle the material.