Two hotels in Hong Kong have agreed that their restaurants will work together to collect oyster shells from waste for further processing in cement, reports the newspaper South China Morning Post. This will make the production of this building material more environmentally friendly.
The restaurants at the Eaton and Langham hotels must collect 8 tons of oyster shells and donate them to the construction materials company Green Island Cement. Since the shells are 91% limestone, such a batch will allow the company to obtain 80% of the required volume of raw materials.
The organizers of this initiative expect other major hotels and restaurants to join soon in the port city, where shellfish dishes are very popular among residents and tourists. Last year, Hong Kong imported 3.3 thousand tons of oysters. Most of this waste is sent to landfills.
Green Island Cement management said it had been exploring the possibility of using clam remains as a raw material 20 years ago. However, at that time they abandoned this initiative as it required a line to clean the shells of meat and dirt.
This is not the first such initiative by Hong Kong restaurateurs. In 2021, the city launched a clam harvesting project to restore an oyster reef near Chek Lap Kok Island, home to Hong Kong International Airport. At the moment, 15 restaurants have already joined the project. This year they plan to collect 50 tons of shells. This will restore the reef, create a natural breakwater and increase biodiversity. In addition, the project will improve seawater quality, as one oyster filters up to 30 liters of water per hour.
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