Update to this story

Due to coronavirus concerns, the collection of glass from purple, glass-only containers has been suspended until further notice. The collection bins will be removed from their locations throughout the County. Residents are welcome to bring their glass refuse to containers at the I-66 transfer station or the I-95 landfill complex, or glass can be placed in the trash.

Fairfax County and its partners from neighboring jurisdictions introduced purple bin glass-only recycling in April 2019 and stopped collecting glass from curbside recycling bins in October, to reduce contamination, lower transportation costs, protect sorting equipment, divert glass from the landfill, and develop untapped markets for recycled glass. Twenty-four public drop-off sites (those purple bins) are open to all Northern Virginia residents, no matter where they live. 

The glass collected from the purple dumpsters is then taken to Fairfax County’s I-66 transfer station, where it is crushed by a gigantic glass crushing machine. From there, the crushed glass is shipped to North Carolina for further processing, then sold to companies which use the recycled material to manufacture new glass containers and other products. One of the companies is O-I Glass, which has two factories in Virginia. 

To learn more about this process, click here.