May 6, 2014
Harvard University researchers have created a fully biodegradable plastic from shrimp shells. Dubbed shrilk, the bioplastic is made of the main ingredient found in the hardy shells: chitin. The tough, transparent material is already being transformed into complex shapes like egg cartons and chess pieces, the Harvard Gazette reports. Shrilk, which breaks down in the environment in as little as 2 weeks, is described in Macromolecular Materials and Engineering.
http://news.sciencemag.org/signal-noise/2014/05/making-plastic-out-shrimp-shells