The Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) is a nonprofit dedicated to “Bringing back the Chesapeake Bay one oyster at a time.” The ORP implements several programs and projects around the bay to further its restoration efforts. The Shell Recycle Alliance (SRA), one of ORP’s programs, has hundreds of restaurants, caterers and seafood wholesalers helping restore the Chesapeake Bay’s oyster habitat by recycling their used shells.

“Oyster shells are an extremely limited natural resource that we must recycle as new oysters prefer to attach and grow onto other oyster shells,” said Stephan Abel, executive director of the Oyster Recovery Partnership. “We are grateful to Dorchester County for recognizing the critical need for oyster shells as part of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration efforts by providing additional public drop-off sites that will ultimately help us achieve restoration goals.”

With the addition of new sites added last year, Dorchester County offers four drop off locations at the Beulah Landfill, Secretary Transfer Station, Golden Hill Transfer Station, and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science at Horn Point.

Businesses and individuals who become a member of the Shell Recycling Alliance are eligible to receive a Maryland tax credit for recycling shells. Learn more by visiting http://www.oysterrecovery.org/maryland-tax-benefits-with-shell-recycling/.

For more information on the Oyster Recovery Partnership, please visit www.oysterrecovery.org.