Restaurants add oyster shells to recycling

Posted: 7:13 pm Thu, March 25, 2010
By Associated Press

Add oyster shells to the recycling list.

The Oyster Recovery Partnership launched an oyster shell recycling alliance Thursday, hoping to save a valuable resource in the effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay’s dwindling oyster population — the empty shells used in hatcheries as the base on which small oysters grow.

The partnership says shells will be collected from participating restaurants, caterers and wholesalers based in Baltimore, Washington and Annapolis and taken to a state hatchery.

“They set aside the shells, and on a weekly basis we collect it,” said Stefan Abel, the group’s executive director.

More than 20 restaurants and other businesses have signed up so far, Abel said, and those holding oyster roasts and other events can also arrange to have shells picked up. In addition to providing needed shells, the effort will help raise awareness of the oyster’s role in filtering bay water, he said.

The idea came from shuckers like George Hastings, who saw the shells being thrown out, Abel said.

Hastings, a retired Maryland State Highway Administration engineer, said he had heard the state was looking for shells for its replenishment programs.

“We said, ‘Hey, these things are going into dumpsters, they’re going into landfills, if we can get enough folks interested, we can recycle these things.’ And it’s really taken off,” Hastings said. “It’s great to know they are going to replenish the oyster beds.”

Arpad Romandy, general manager of the Intercontinental Harbor Court hotel in Baltimore, said the recycling has been easy. The shells are placed in 5-gallon containers provided by the program and picked up when they are full.

“So, it’s very simple, and it’s something you would just throw in the rubbish. It’s very easy,” said Romandy.

A pilot program collected more than 3,000 bushels of shells over the last 18 months, and organizers hope to collect 5,000 bushels, enough shell for 25 million small oysters.

Denise Whiting, owner of Cafe Hon and the Hon Bar in Baltimore, said her bar hosts an oyster night every Friday where Hastings and other organizers of the recycling effort shuck oysters.

Whiting said her employees have gotten behind the idea and now she is looking into recycling cans and bottles and other items.

“Once you get your employees involved and they feel like they’re a part of it, then it’s almost like this infectious kind of thing, everybody wants to play the game,” Whiting said. “And, plus, it’s a wonderful way to help save the Chesapeake Bay.”