Glass Removed From Fairfax City's Curbside Recycling Program

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Starting Friday, April 1, Fairfax City will no longer accept glass bottles and jars in its curbside recycling containers.

Recycling centers in the region are not equipped to sort glass collected in single-stream recycling as part of curbside collection programs.

Instead, residents are asked to reuse glass containers or place them in purple, glass-only recycling containers. City residents can use any of the purple containers in the region, including these sites:

• Burkholder Center: 10700 Page Ave., Fairfax
• I-66 Transfer Station: 4618 West Ox Road., Fairfax
• Fairfax County Government Center: 12000 Government Center Parkway., Fairfax
• Providence Community Center: 3001 Vaden Drive, Fairfax

The single-stream recycling program that includes glass is being discontinued because glass containers break during collection and processing. Also, liquids in the glass bottles and jars harm the paper and cardboard products placed in recycling bins, making the paper products harder to recycle. Broken glass pieces also can collect in other materials, which is hazardous to machinery and workers.

For residents, glass that cannot be delivered to a purple container should be placed in the trash.

Two years ago, Fairfax City joined the Purple Can Club, a regional recycling program with Fairfax County, Arlington County and Alexandria. The program provides glass-only containers for residents to drop off clean glass for recycling. The source-separated glass is sold and recycled to make new bottles and jars.

When using the purple containers, residents should make sure their glass is empty, clean and dry. Labels and lids may be left on. Residents should not leave glass outside the purple container.

These materials are not accepted in the purple containers: plastic bags/wrap; lightbulbs and lamps; ceramics, Pyrex, and porcelain; and mirrors, windows, and plate glass.

For more information, visit Fairfax City's glass recycling website.