Did you know that about two-thirds of the fish that is caught is discarded as waste? Sometimes, fish waste like bones, heads, fins, and scales are used as fertilizers and fish oil, but much of it ends up in landfills. That is unless a materials researcher finds a way to reuse some of it and create an entirely new material—which is exactly what Erik de Laurens did when he created Scalite.

Made entirely from fish scales (or 99.5% of it), Scalite is a bio-sourced, biodegradable, and naturally nonflammable material that turns a byproduct of the fishing industry into a striking stone-like material that can make buildings a little greener, one tile at a time.

De Laurens built his first prototype while doing his masters’s in product design at London’s Royal College of Art in 2011. He then spent six years working as a materials researcher at architecture firm Foster + Partners, where he was faced with what he calls the “architectural problematics” and polluting reality of the building industry. In 2018, after two years of development, he moved back to his native France, partnered with entrepreneur Edouard de Dreuzy (who’s also his cousin), and the duo founded Scale as “an ocean-friendly brand.”

The French company’s first material is called Scalite. “We call it reversible, which means that with one tile of Scalite, you can produce another tile of Scalite,” says Laurens. Indeed the material’s natural composition—free of toxic chemicals, resins, and glues—means that when tiles are removed for a remodel, they can be 100% recycled.

Fish scales are a composite of biopolymers (collagen fibers) and minerals.

Keep reading on FastCompany.com