GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — A new oyster shell recycling program in Georgetown County aims to rehabilitate oyster populations, improve water quality and reduce landfill waste, officials said.
A significant volume of oysters are consumed in the county because of the concentration of restaurants and seafood establishments in Murrells Inlet, officials said. Shells from those businesses often end up in landfills, where they do not decompose.
The Georgetown County Stormwater Division is establishing the program in coordination with the South Carolina Oyster Recycling and Education program. The program will process collected shells at the county landfill through a quarantine period, during which organic material will decay, and debris will be removed.
Processed shells will then be used to construct oyster baskets, which are structures filled with shells and coconut husks. The baskets provide anchoring material for juvenile oysters, which naturally attach to hard surfaces to form new colonies…