This is not the first time that we are coming across a biodegradable golf ball, but the specialty lies in the fact that these balls are made of waste lobster shells which otherwise pile up in dumpsters and would have no further use.

Researchers at University of Maine (UMaine) have devised a way to judiciously use the massive byproduct of the lobster canning industry and not let it go as a waste. The product developed by UMaine and The Lobster Institute in the form of golf balls not only helps in reusing something completely useless but also provides an eco-friendly alternative to the same. Since they are biodegradable, the golf balls have been targeted to be used on cruise ships, so that when the balls land in water they do not hamper the ecosystem.

Undergraduate student Alex Cadell of Winterport, Maine involved in the research who is also a golfer states, “The flight properties are amazing. It doesn’t fly quite as far as a regular golf ball, but we’re actually getting a similar distance to other biodegradable golf balls.” Although the crushed lobster shell material is initially being considered for golf balls, chances are that they might land up in more biodegradable products in the future.

Physorg