Curbside Glass Recycling Still Allowed In Loudoun County

LEESBURG, VA — Recycling companies are continuing to do curbside pickup of glass food and beverage containers in Loudoun County, as other jurisdictions, including Fairfax County and the City of Alexandria, have stopped accepting glass in curbside recycling bins. Recycling companies who receive a permit from Loudoun County to operate as "major" collectors are still required to collect glass containers for recycling, the county government said Dec. 27.

Loudoun County residents who do not have curbside recycling service may recycle their glass containers at one of several county-operated recycling drop-off centers located throughout the county. Before being recycled, all glass containers should be empty and relatively clean, with little or no food residue or liquids, and should be placed loosely in the recycling bin, not in plastic bags.

Glass containers currently collected in Loudoun County through curbside recycling services are taken to material recovery facilities where all materials are sorted and prepared for shipping and recycling. Due to the presence of contaminants in the glass following the sorting process, the glass is primarily repurposed as a low-value material for landfill operations such as road base and daily cover. While Virginia law allows this repurposing, the Loudoun County landfill does not accept glass materials for its operations.

Loudoun County said it is exploring alternative collection methods for glass containers to help ensure they can be fully recycled, including a future pilot program involving container glass-only collection bins at a few county recycling drop-off centers.

Elsewhere in the region, Alexandria plans to will halt curbside recycling of glass on Jan. 15, 2020. When that change takes effect, city customers must recycle glass containers at purple drop-off bins or throw them in the trash. The city cited growing recycling contamination, increasing recycling costs and lack of regional glass-sorting facilities.

As of Oct. 1, residents receiving Fairfax County trash and recycling collection services could no longer put glass bottles and jars in curbside recycling bins. The county decided to remove glass from the curbside recycling service after conversations with Covanta Fairfax, Inc., which runs the waste-to-energy plant, and private recycling sorting centers. The county says broken glass can contaminate other recycled items such as cardboard and metals and damage machinery.

Last spring, Arlington County ended its curbside glass recycling program. The county told residents that those who receive residential trash and recycling pickup service in Arlington should throw away glass in their black trash containers instead of the blue recycling bins because glass placed in the blue bins wasn't getting recycled anyway. Also last spring, Prince William County officials announced that residents should keep both glass and certain kinds of plastic out of their curbside recycling containers.

For more information about the current status of glass recycling in Loudoun County, visit the county's recycling website.