Video: Notts TV’s Rachel Mlota on the shrimp shell invention saving the environment
Nottingham scientists are making environmentally-friendly shopping bags and food packaging out of shrimp shells.
Dr Nicola Everitt and a team at the University of Nottingham have started to produce the material as an alternative to plastic bags.
Animal welfare campaigners had raised concerns to the team about the bags but the scientists say the shrimps shells do not come from food animals killed specifically for the purpose but waste from restaurants such as Wok and Go in the Lace Market.
Dr Nicola Everitt hopeful that the biodegradable material will catch on and eventually become widely-used.
She said: “It is better to use the whole animal rather than just throwing it away after eating part of it anyway.
“The UK has a well-established industry of biodegradable bags made from a whole variety of sources.
“Through the Newton Fund, we are able to carry out research which will benefit the partner country, which in this case is Egypt.”
Campaigns are under way in Egypt and the UK to promote the research and encourage manufacturers to take up the invention.
