– An eco-friendly upcycling company that transforms shells into new value
– Production of high-quality calcium chloride and eco-friendly deicing agent through shell pretreatment process
– Promoting factory expansion and scale-up through investment attraction
In the early morning of 2025, CEO Choi Soo-bin of Shellpia received an urgent phone call. The roads were paralyzed due to heavy snowfall, and the government office requested additional emergency supplies due to a shortage of snow removal agents. CEO Choi responded immediately and shipped all of his inventory, but the amount was far from enough to meet market demand. Shellpia supplied approximately 300 tons of snow removal agents in 2024, but the market demand was only 1,500 to 2,000 tons, and supply was not keeping up with demand. In response, Shellpia is pushing for full-scale investment attraction starting in 2025 with the goal of expanding its factory and increasing production, and is accelerating efforts to establish a stable supply system.
■ The beginning of Shellpia Corporation
Shellpia is a company established to solve the problem of shell waste after witnessing firsthand the severity of the problem through a family working in the fishing industry. Shells, which are shells of shellfish such as oysters and clams, are not naturally formed but are byproducts created by humans, and if not properly processed, they can accumulate in such large quantities that they form mountains. Shells are officially classified as waste, and are difficult to process on land, and when released into the sea, they become a nuisance that causes serious environmental pollution. Shellpia was founded after thinking about how to solve this problem while creating new value.
■ The challenges and growth of Shellpia in its first three years
In order for Shellpia to succeed in commercialization, it had to find a way to turn oyster shells into valuable resources rather than just waste. CEO Choi Soo-bin came up with the idea of extracting calcium chloride from shells to make a deicer, and rented a small laboratory to start research to realize this. However, in the process of starting the company, he faced numerous difficulties and challenges.
The biggest problem was securing a factory and production permits. Since chemical reactions occur during the shell processing process, it was not easy to find a suitable factory, and it took 6 months just to secure a factory, and another 6 months to obtain environmental and production permits. In particular, permits related to chemical processing of shells were unprecedented in Korea. After not giving up and continuously challenging ourselves, we were able to obtain the relevant permits and factory facilities in just 1 year and 6 months after starting the business, and begin full-scale product production.
■ Investing in companies with sustainable technologies
Next, the challenge of developing a sales channel awaited. Since the main buyers of the deicing agent were government offices, developing a sales channel for delivery was not easy. Accordingly, Shellpia actively participated in exhibitions to seek sales opportunities, and through these efforts, it was able to form a relationship with an official from Incheon Facilities Corporation and obtain the opportunity to test the product performance. As a result of the test, it was evaluated as suitable for liquid deicing agents due to its high ice melting performance despite using shells as a raw material. Afterwards, word of mouth spread about the reasonable price and excellent quality of the shells, leading to additional orders from various government offices such as Korea Midland Power Company and Gimpo City. Shellpia, which is now in its third year of establishment, has grown rapidly by establishing the core foundation of its business in a short period of time, from product development to securing a factory and establishing a sales network.
■ Shellpia’s Value Creation
Shellpia is a company that processes oyster shells to produce and sell eco-friendly liquid de-icing agents. Currently, the main use of shells is de-icing agents, and the company is also pursuing the development of solid de-icing agents by 2025. Shellpia’s technological capabilities are not limited to de-icing agents, and it plans to expand its business based on this. It plans to expand into the agricultural and food industries through the development of nutritional foods and fertilizers, and to provide sustainable solutions through research on eco-friendly materials, thereby further expanding the scope of shell utilization.
Our country is the second largest producer of oysters in the world after China, and as a result, we face the reality that more than 300,000 tons of shells are piled up as waste every year. Shellpia is contributing to environmental preservation by upcycling these as eco-friendly resources, and in the future, we plan to participate in the development of carbon reduction technology by cooperating with carbon capture research institutes and also promote the expansion of carbon emission rights business.
■ Shellpia Co., Ltd.’s Roadmap
Currently, Shellpia is preparing for full-scale expansion with 2025 as the year of leap forward in a situation where demand exceeds supply. Shellpia has secured technological competitiveness by registering five patents and one utility model, and aims to grow into a company leading waste upcycling and carbon reduction technology centered on eco-friendly deicing products. Shellpia developed a deicing technology using oyster shells, which was considered an environmental issue, and commercialized it. Based on its strong execution ability, Shellpia has successfully overcome various environmental and production regulations and generated sales. We expect to establish itself as a company leading eco-friendly upcycling through further growth and expansion in the future.
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