New Jersey Shell Recycling Guidelines for Restaurant-Based Shell Collection and Management

Abstract

Oysters are a keystone species throughout the Atlantic Coast of New Jersey and the Delaware Bay. Well-functioning oyster reefs provide a host of ecosystem services including filtering significant volumes of water and providing essential habitat for a wide variety of aquatic species, many of which are of commercial and recreational significance.

Shell planting is a proven management strategy that provides the substrate necessary for oyster populations to grow and succeed. While various agencies (State, Federal, local, academia, and non-government) aim to develop and implement oyster enhancement efforts, it is often limited by the availability of shell, which has become increasingly scarce and costly. Recycled shell helps to bridge this gap. Shell is diverted from the waste stream to be used in oyster reef enhancement efforts and shoreline stabilization projects, while simultaneously achieving waste reduction goals by keeping it out of a landfill. Shell recycling programs have been growing in popularity nationwide and several groups in New Jersey have developed programs to achieve these goals