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Winner of the 2002 Moovjee Grand Prize, a young

company called Bysco from Nantes is behind

a process that transforms mussel byssus into

natural biosourced textile fibres. Byssus is the

filaments secreted by the molluscs so they can

attach themselves to rocks (usually thrown away

by the mussel farmers). Based in Cancale, Bysco’s

production unit collects the byssus from three of

the biggest mussel farmers in France (Normandy,

Brittany and Pays de la Loire). With support from

the Atlanpole network in Pays de La Loire, Bysco

has already won over three businesses in very

different fields: acoustic panels, sports items

and 3D printers. Its ambition is to produce

35,000 square metres of textile materials in

around two years.

When the mussel leaves its rock, the entire human

race can benefit from it. We already know the

wonderful virtues of the ocean depths when it comes

to cosmetics. Today we are discovering the sea’s

ability to produce new components. After oysters,

it’s the mussels turn to race for recycled materials.

The sea world may be endangered but it is not lacking

in ressources.

A way of remembering that in the field of new

biosourced materials, waste provides the best

alternative to raw materials. Day after day, nature

is emerging as our future industrial leader.