Seastex

Seastex is a materials company in Glasgow, Scotland, that turns byssus – the fibrous ‘beard’ mussels use to anchor themselves to rock, and which the food industry discards – into a natural feedstock. Founded in June 2021 after the opportunity was spotted inside the mussel industry, it processes the fibre into natural fibres, milled fibres and powders for several markets.

The material is proposed for acoustic products, panels, cosmetics, nutrition and advanced materials, with the stated aim of making mussel farming more valuable without asking farmers to produce more; regional Byssus Tech processing hubs are planned to keep that value close to where mussels are grown. Its best-known application is the ABC tile, a panel developed to show how the fibre performs in interiors.