Your leftovers could be used to make a better plastic wrap.
Two students at the École Polytechnique have invented a plastic made of seafood shells.
Mounia Arkoun and Nury Ardila are earning their PhDs in chemical engineering. The pair work with a powder called kitosan - made from leftover shells from lobsters, crab and shellfish.
They turn that powder into a plastic that is not only but antibacterial - it's biodegradable, too. The 0.03 mm-thick material resembles plastic cling wrap.
'The material is antibacterial, and that means it can eradicate bacteria such E.coli, listeria, salmonella - so we can use it for food applications, ' said Ardila. That could something you'd use in your kitchen, like plastic baggies or Tupperware.
Arkoun and Ardila have worked on this for the last five years and plan to keep developing the plastic wrap. Arkoun is from Algeria and Ardila is originally from Colombia, and they often work together - a winning combination, as they often win academic competitions as a pair. They credit teamwork with turning this concept into reality.