611 McIntire Road
Charlottesville VA 22902
A small ceremony to celebrate VOSRP’s partnership with RSWA will be held at McIntire Recycling Center on Wednesday, Oct. 23rd at 11am. Mr. Todd Janeski, Director of the Program will be in attendance and will speak to its significance, and what our partnership means for not only the Charlottesville/Ablemarle area, but also the Chesapeake Bay.
McIntire Recycling Center, 611 McIntire Road, Charlottesville VA 22902, is the new home for the collection of oyster shells in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area. This collection point, which is also open to the public, will collect oysters from area restaurants and homes to be recycled back into oyster habitat in the Chesapeake by the Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling and Restoration Program (VOSRP).
The VOSRP is a collaborative, community-based, restoration program of the VCU Rice Rivers Center (RRC). The VOSRP began in 2013 to collect waste oyster shell from businesses and the general public and divert it back into the Chesapeake Bay as part of comprehensive oyster restoration to meet Chesapeake Bay Program Goals. They actively collect waste shells statewide, with more than 60 participating businesses and nearly 30 public drop-off locations. The Program collects from restaurants, businesses, oyster roasts, special events, and at public drop-off locations.
“I am proud that the Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling Program is partnering with the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority to expand shell recycling to the region,” said Todd Janeski, Director of the Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling Program at the VCU Rice Rivers Center. “Through the efforts of our partner restaurants, RSWA, and local volunteers lead by Carolyn O’Neal, people who live in the area can be direct participants in oyster shell recycling over 100 miles away in the Chesapeake Bay.”
Annually, the Program collects nearly 125,000lb of waste shells that are age-cured at the VCU Rice Rivers Center before being seeded with juvenile oysters. Those seeded shells are then returned to the Chesapeake Bay on reef restoration projects in the Piankatank and Rappahannock Rivers. They work closely with the seafood industry and restoration partners, and returned nearly 20M oysters in 2019; which accounts for the largest shell recycling program in Virginia.
“The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority is pleased to support the Oyster Shell Recycling Program by hosting one of their collection containers. Not only does the program help support one of our organizational goals of landfill diversion, but it has so many additional benefits through its effects on the habitats and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. By placing this container at the McIntire Recycling Center, not only will we be able to continue to support restaurants and stores to recycle their shells but possibly we can stimulate significant collections from the public as well”, said Phil McKalips, Director of Solid Waste,
