Biomass fiber helps China's textile industry weave a green path

JINAN - Textile companies have long been dependent on crude oil when making common synthetic materials such as nylon or polyester but that could soon change, with companies turning to biomass fibers. Hismer Bio-Tech Co Ltd, based in Ningyang county, Tai'an in East China's Shandong province, is making biomass fiber from a very unusual source: shrimp and crab shells.

In the backyard of the company's workshop, piles of shrimp and crab shells permeate the air with their strong odor. But after going through the company's processing machine, the shells are turned from food waste to chitosan fiber, basically indistinguishable from other synthetic fibers.

"The biomass fiber can wean textile companies' off their reliance on crude oil," said Hu Guangmin, Hismer's chair.