Lawmakers pass bill to create oyster shell recycling tax credit

Photo courtesy CRCL.

The Louisiana Legislature has passed legislation that would incentivize restaurants to recycle what would normally be discarded oyster shells.

House Bill 255, which creates a tax credit for restaurants that recycle oyster shells is sponsored by Rep. Mandie Landry of New Orleans.

It was supported by the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, a nonprofit that operates the only large-scale shell recycling program in the state.

The bill passed both the House and the Senate unopposed, with Senate approval occurring Sunday night. CRCL expects the bill to be signed into law by Gov. John Bel Edwards.

According to a news release by CRCL, the bill incentivizes Louisiana restaurants to recycle shell by providing them with a tax credit of $1 per 50 pounds of shell recycled.

It is designed to offset the costs associated with joining shell recycling efforts such as CRCL’s Oyster Shell Recycling Program. The program has returned more than 13 million lbs. of shell to the water since 2014, according to CRCL.

The program keeps it out of landfills while using it to slow coastal erosion and establish habitat for new oysters to grow. Oyster reefs also aid to absorb storm surge during hurricanes and tropical storms.

The legislation was supported by the Restore the Mississippi River Delta campaign, the Louisiana Restaurant Association, the Coastal Conservation Association, the Louisiana Hotel and Lodging Association, GNO Inc., New Orleans and Co., Chefs Brigade and the oyster industry.

“The passage of HB255 is a clear indication that the Louisiana Legislature is serious about supporting coastal restoration,” Tyler Bosworth, advocacy director at CRCL, said in a news release. “The five oyster reefs built by CRCL to date have helped significantly reduce the rate of erosion. This bill should make it possible for more restaurants to do the right thing without jeopardizing their bottom line.”

More than two dozen restaurants belong to CRCL’s Oyster Shell Recycling Program, which is one of the largest such programs in the United States.

The program pays for a contractor to pick up the shell multiple times a week from restaurants, then drive it down to CRCL’s restoration headquarters in St. Bernard Parish. The shell cures for months, and is then packaged into biodegradable mesh bags by volunteers. After that, it is strategically placed into the water by volunteers to create oyster reefs that stand between moving water and the soft soil the makes up Louisiana’s coast. CRCL has built five reefs so far, with a sixth planned to be built this fall.

Louisiana is the No. 1 oyster-producing state in the United States Over one million oysters from the state’s waters are consumed daily. The industry typically returns spent shell to the water to replenish what is harvested and encourage new growth. But because many Louisiana oysters are consumed in areas far away from where they are harvested, including at restaurants in urban centers, many shells are circulated into mainstream garbage.

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