How a R.I. startup is turning seafood shell waste into furniture and building materials
Neuhof is now the founder and chief executive officer of
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Q: What is Shellf Life and how does it work?
Neuhof:
Shellf Life transforms discarded seafood shells into innovative building materials through a process I developed on my kitchen stove. We take what restaurants throw away — oyster, mussel, clam, crab, and scallop shells — and create architectural surfaces, furniture, and lighting with properties ranging from rigid to flexible to translucent. Since winning the Terra Carta Design Lab competition, I've been scaling operations at our 50 Sims facility in Providence.
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In times of global supply chain uncertainty, Shellf Life offers a literally local concrete alternative that just makes sense — turning waste into valuable building materials through processes accessible to people from all backgrounds and skill levels.
Felicia Neuhof, left, collects shell waste from Eric Brown, owner and chef of the restaurant Frank & Laurie's, on April 25, in Providence, R.I.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
Shell waste from Frank & Laurie's, a brunch and dinner restaurant, in Providence, R.I.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
Q: How much seafood waste is there in New England?
The numbers are staggering. One Rhode Island shellfish processor alone generates 7 tons of shell waste weekly—that's 728,000 pounds annually, enough material for 30,000 square feet of tiling. When combined with restaurant waste across New England, we're looking at a tremendous resource: Rhode Island could produce enough material for 3,000 kitchen backsplashes annually, Massachusetts enough for 5,000 bathroom floors, Maine sufficient for 20,000 serving bowls that return to the restaurants supplying the shells, Connecticut enough for 1,500 countertops, New Hampshire enough for 1,000 shower surrounds, and even my home state of Vermont contributes enough for thousands of decorative elements. An order of a dozen oysters or plate of mussels creates enough shells for one 6-by-6-inch
tile. Rhode Island alone produces about 200,000 pounds of shell waste annually — enough for an estimated 330,000 tiles that could completely cover 30 homes. Together, New England's annual shell waste — currently headed to landfills — could tile nearly 300 homes every year. That's an entire neighborhood created from what restaurants are throwing away.
Q: What kind of materials are you creating? Furniture and fixtures? Raw materials?
Both. I create three product lines: furniture for residential and commercial settings, homeware like bowls and lighting, and architectural materials including tiles and surfaces. I'm also developing specialized applications for marine environments — working with
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Q: Walk me through the process.
I collect shells from restaurant partners, clean and sanitize them, then crush them into a calibrated material. This is blended with my proprietary binder — much like following a recipe — and molded into form. During curing, the material actually captures CO2. At my facility at 50 Sims in Providence, I've scaled this process from my kitchen to a manufacturing microlab. I've secured a provisional patent on both the material composition and manufacturing method, which was an important step for commercialization. My goal has been to develop a system so refined that making a tile is as easy as flipping burgers, opening up manufacturing opportunities to anyone regardless of educational background. This simplicity makes our approach scalable within local economies.
At her new studio space, Felicia Neuhof pushes a cart with discarded seafood shells she collected from local restaurants.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
Felicia Neuhof washes discarded seafood shells that she collected from local restaurants around Providence, R.I.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
Q: What kind of seafood waste are you using?
I primarily use oyster, mussel, clam, and scallop shells — any bivalve shells typically tossed in restaurant dumpsters. Each brings unique qualities: oysters provide strength and texture, mussels offer beautiful color and luminosity, clams contribute creamy hues with flecks of purple, and scallops add structural pattern variability. Like a chef selecting ingredients, I blend these shells in various ratios to customize the material for specific applications.
Q: What was it like to meet King Charles, and develop Shellf Life as part of the Terra Carta Design Lab?
Meeting King Charles III was transformative. When I placed my kitchen-created material in his hands at Hampton Court Palace, his face lit up with genuine curiosity. Remarking on the texture and strength of the Shellf Life bowl, he asked thoughtful questions, revealing someone who truly understood the potential, calling the idea 'genius.' What struck me most was seeing how Shellf Life made intuitive sense to everyone — from farmers and chefs to a King.
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Q: How can restaurants, consumers, and others direct seafood waste to Shellf Life?
I've made it as simple as recycling. For restaurants, I provide collection buckets and regular pickup that fits into their existing workflow. I've already partnered with several Providence restaurants, including
Various products made from discarded seafood shells are displayed at Felicia Neuhof's new studio in Providence, R.I.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
Felicia Neuhof's company, Shellf Life, manufactures architectural surfaces, furniture, bowls and lighting solutions using material made from discarded seafood shells.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
Q: Do you have any investors?
Q: What are your goals for the next year?
This year is my R&D phase — implementing collection systems, refining manufacturing processes, and rigorously testing products in preparation for the 2026 commercial launch. Within five years, I aim to establish manufacturing microlabs in multiple coastal communities. In the next 10 years I hope to have locations spanning from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon, and beyond. These microlabs will infuse cooking skillsets into manufacturing. My vision is a system so simple that making materials for buildings becomes as accessible as food preparation — democratizing manufacturing while creating resilient local supply chains.
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This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
The Boston Globe's weekly Ocean State Innovators column features a Q&A with Rhode Island innovators who are starting new businesses and nonprofits, conducting groundbreaking research, and reshaping the state's economy. Send tips and suggestions to reporter Alexa Gagosz at
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Felicia Neuhof inside her new studio space in Providence. R.I.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
Alexa Gagosz can be reached at
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