This CT nonprofit is recycling oyster shells that are otherwise going to waste

Oysters are a delicacy that many New Englanders savor, but removing their shells from the ocean floor actually harms the environment.

Now a first-of-its kind program in Connecticut aims to put tens of thousands of shells back into Long Island Sound. It’s run by a new nonprofit that launched this year called Collective Oyster Recycling & Restoration, or CORR.

Fried or on the half shell, a lot of diners go to Max Oyster in West Hartford for one thing.

“Very popular. I mean, it's our namesake,” Matthew Burrill, Max Oyster executive chef, said.

However, the discarded shells add up.

“At least 3,000 a week, just from my raw bar,” Burrill said.

Now, instead of hitting the landfill, the shells are getting collected and returned to Long Island Sound.

“I can’t wait to see what it does to the Sound,” Burrill said.

It is thanks to a new partnership that started up this month between the Max Restaurant Group and CORR.

“These are our tabletop buckets,” Tim Macklin, CORR co-founder, said. “We collect the shells from restaurants and festivals so they're not throwing them in the trash.”

CORR received grant funding from the Department of Agriculture this year after running a small shell recycling program out of Fairfield for eight years. Now for the first time, they are expanding the program statewide.

“They've served all these oysters and we've recaptured full buckets,” Todd Koehnke, CORR co-founder, said.

Once a week, the crew collects shells placed in buckets from about a dozen restaurants that they have formed partnerships with over the summer.

“Most of them are exactly like you would imagine. ‘Wow, great. Why wasn't somebody already doing this?’” Koehnke said.

Each week at the commercial shuck house and wholesaler Gulf Shrimp Company in Plantsville, they gather another 8,000 pounds of shells.

“We're getting in fresh shellfish off local boats every single day. As you can see, there are thousands of oysters and clams in here,” Forrest Bly, Gulf Shrimp Company owner, said.

All of the shells get transported to a curing site in East Haven, where there is a mountain of oyster and clam shells only growing.

“Get the pile above the tree,” Koehnke said.

The first shell dump happened on July 11. There are now 80,000 pounds of shells, and CORR said by the end of the month, there will likely be 100,000 pounds.

As the CORR co-founders explain, baby oysters attach to oyster shells on the ocean floor as they are growing.

“Our impact will be next year when the oysters are spawning,” Koehnke said. “We got to get 100 years of taking it out of the sound to being 100 years of putting it all back in the sound.”

They say a healthy oyster population has many environmental benefits. An adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day, removing harmful material like algae, according to CORR.

Their reefs also protect the coast from storm surges, and create habitats for other marine species.

“Oysters are kind of a very miraculous creature,” Macklin said.

At the curing site, the shells will disinfect for six months before the team returns them to the sound next summer. By that time, they aim to have 300,000 pounds of shells.

“We're reducing waste,” Macklin said. “And we're creating new habitat in the Long Island Sound for marine organisms, which will benefit the commercial industry as well.”

All efforts to bolster a circular economy: from shore, to table, to ocean floor once again. You can learn more about CORR and their partners online at CORR-CT.org.