Feb. 17 webinar offers info about oyster shell recycling

Plastic Free Delaware and Zero Waste First State will offer a webinar from 12 to 1:15 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 17, with local experts sharing information about Delaware’s oyster shell recycling programs. 

Presenters Sarah Bouboulis and Nivette Perez-Perez will discuss the oyster shell recycling programs that are keeping significant amount of tonnage out of Delaware's landfills while helping rejuvenate oyster populations as well as the health of area bays and estuaries.

Perez-Perez is the project manager of the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays' Don't Chuck Your Shucks program. Bouboulis is the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary’s habitat project coordinator. Along with managing a range of restoration projects across the Delaware Estuary, she also coordinates the partnership’s oyster shell recycling program. In operation since 2016, the PDE program has recycled more than 140 tons of oyster shells, keeping them out of landfills. Both programs collect oyster shells from area restaurants, cure them, and then return them to area waterways to help reach habitat-restoration and water-quality goals.

People interested in learning about these programs can preregister at tinyurl.com/yzxe6tjb. After registering, they will receive a confirmation email with details about joining the webinar.

For more information about Plastic Free Delaware, go to plasticfreedelaware.org.