Oyster Shell Recycling Program Celebrates Seventh Anniversary, Multi-Million Dollar Grant

Celebrating seven years of its oyster shell recycling program, the Alabama Coastal Foundation has received a multi-million dollar grant to expand.

“I’m glad to announce today that the recovering America’s estuaries is included the oyster shell recycling program in Alabama as part of their $5 million grant to expand the program and to continue for several more years,” Commissioner Chris Blankenship with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said.

The process is simple of the Alabama Coastal Foundation, the group collects oyster shells from restaurants and puts them back into the water so they can help new oysters grow. As of last week, the foundation had collected over 22 million shells over the last seven years, which is equivalent to 351 dump trucks worth of shells.

“With this program, the Alabama Coastal Foundation should be able to double the number of restaurants that are participating in the oyster shell recycling and that helps us get more of those shells to put back in the water to grow new oysters,” Blankenship said.

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