After the roasting and steaming, oyster bars and backyard shuckers have little use for smelly shells. Countless bushels end up in trash bins destined for dumps.

That's supposed to change under a state law that bans oyster shells from landfills beginning Jan. 1. The law, which aims to encourage recycling, now lists oyster shells with other banned items such as motor oil, tires and aluminum cans.

The state Division of Marine Fisheries plans to collect shells to dump in coastal waters and build homes for new oysters as part the state's effort to rebuild oyster populations and the shellfish industry. Disease, loss of habitat and overfishing diminished commercial landings from 1.8 million bushels in 1902 to about 71,500 last year.

No one will be fined or jailed for throwing oyster shells into the trash. Instead, it will be up to landfill operators to keep shells out of the waste the same way they do other banned items -- by refusing to accept them or having them sorted out, said Mark Poindexter, field operations supervisor for the state Division of Solid Waste Management. Landfill operators that flagrantly violate the ban may be punished, Poindexter said.

"We're not expecting wholesale disposal of oyster shells," he said.

It's not clear yet how the shells will get from dining tables to the new oyster beds on the coast. Nor is it clear how cities and towns will get people who have backyard oyster roasts to recycle their shells.

The marine fisheries agency and volunteers with the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina, a recreational fishing group with chapters across the state, are still working out the logistics of collecting discarded shells at restaurants and seafood markets. Christopher Elkins of Chapel Hill, a CCCA member who coordinates recycling in the Triangle, said special bins or trailers will be placed throughout the area to collect shells, but details are still being worked out.

"There are going to be glitches," Elkins said.

Restaurant reactions

Joey Cagle of Sunny Side Too Oyster Bar in Garner said that in the past, fishing and hunting clubs had collected discarded oyster shells for paving dirt roads on their property.

Cagle said he welcomed the chance to recycle shells into coastal waters as a way to improve the North Carolina fishery. His restaurant holds shells in a large trailer covered with a tarp.

"It doesn't create a problem for us, but others will have less space," he said.

Brad Hurley, co-owner of the 42nd Street Oyster Bar and Seafood Grill in Raleigh, said the 72-seat restaurant generates as many as 100 bushels a week. He said last week that special bins were not yet available but that he will work with volunteers to keep oyster shells out of the trash.

To offset the costs and hassles of recycling shells, state law has authorized a $1 per bushel state tax credit for any taxpayer who donates shells. State agencies are working out guidelines for providing taxpayers with receipts for the donations.

Under the law, landfill operators will hold shells 90 days until the division arranges to haul them to the coast. If they are not removed for recycling after 90 days, they may be buried in the landfill.

Wake County has set aside space at the county landfill to stockpile up to 750 bushels, said Craig Wittig, administrative services coordinator with the Wake County Solid Waste Division. He said the state is responsible for shipping them to the coast.

"Our role really is to provide the spot," he said.

Discarded oyster shells have long been used as fill for dirt roads, driveways and parking lots. Landscapers place them around flower beds.

Cradles for oysters

The state says the best use is to place shells in brackish water to provide a cultch, a surface on which baby oysters can settle and grow. A single oyster produces millions of offspring that float freely for about three weeks. They then sink to the bottom and must attach to a clean hard surface to survive and grow.

The marine fisheries division has collected about 25,000 bushels of shells since a voluntary recycling program began in 2003. But the landfill ban is expected to help the program reach a goal of 300,000 bushels a year.

"We need as many shells as we can get," said Sabrina Varnam, coordinator of the division's oyster shell recycling program.

Varnam said the state has to use gravel, rip-rap and even clam shells to build reefs because shells are hard to acquire.

"Oysters prefer other oysters," she said.

Most oysters served in North Carolina are imported from other states, often from the Gulf Coast; other states also compete to buy discarded shells.

At Wimpie's Steam Bar and Cajun Cafe near Greenville, oyster shells glisten in the unpaved parking lot, and a few shells are embedded in a concrete walkway for decoration.

Wimpie's owner Scott Joyner said people retrieved oyster shells from a trash bin in the past, but he didn't know how the shells were put to use. Joyner said he will work with volunteers to collect the 50 or so bushels a week the restaurant discards so they can go back to the water.

"We definitely want to get on the bandwagon," he said.