Did you know that glass bottles and jars are not accepted in most curbside recycling programs throughout the region?

The good news is that Fairfax County residents can bring their empty, clean and dry glass containers to purple glass recycling collection containers anytime. Glass deposited in these purple cans throughout the county is used to make food and beverage containers, fiberglass insulation, and reflective materials.

On Thursday, February 27, Fairfax County celebrated its 26th and newest location for consumer glass recycling with a ribbon-cutting and bottle-recycle at Chantilly Regional Library. Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) Director Eric Carzon shared, "Libraries are the original members of the sharing economy and libraries, by the nature of our operation and how we do business, are fully engaged with reducing usage, reusing items and recycling them at the end of their lifecycle. It's embedded in everything that we do so if you're using a library, you are the ultimate recycler."

"This is our second purple can in Sully District. I'm really excited that we provide these services to the community so that the world is a better place for future generations," said Sully District Supervisor Kathy Smith.

Since the program's inception in 2019, to date, over 50 million pounds of glass have been collected in the county's purple collection containers. That's approximately 42 pounds of glass from each of our 1.2 million county residents.

Always good for a fun tip, Department of Public Works and Environmental Services Deputy Director Eric Forbes explained to the crowd what the numbers and letters on your glass containers really mean. "N is for North America and then there's numbers associated with it. If it has a number 13 or 30 that means it was actually processed and made here in Virginia." Check out a few bottles or jars in your own home today and see what letters and numbers they have!

Library users and the community can currently recycle glass with FCPL at five locations: Chantilly Regional Library, Dolley Madison Library, Great Falls Library, Kingstowne Regional Library and Lorton Library.