This article was written 太子探花鈥檚 news partner and republished with permission.
Arlington County is asking residents to聽trash glass, following a vote by the County Board last night.
Board members passed an amendment to the county code allowing the County Manager to delete materials from the list of what Arlington recycles. The move was made to allow County Manager Mark Schwartz to remove glass from the list after officials said it had become too expensive to recycle.
The county says 聽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. That will make things easier for the county鈥檚 recycling processor, which is currently sending glass to landfills.
The new county directive does not apply to those in offices, apartments and other commercial properties, whose waste collection is handled by private contractors.
Alternatively, people can dump their glass at one of two designated drop-off locations 鈥� at聽 (N. Quincy Street and Washington Blvd) or the (2700 S. Taylor Street)聽鈥� which carts聽it to聽Fairfax County for an in paving roads with smashed up glass.
鈥淭he County anticipates establishing additional drop-off locations to make it more convenient for residents, though no specific sites are yet under consideration,鈥� said the county鈥檚 press release. 鈥淕lass that customers deposit in their black trash carts will be processed at the in Alexandria where it will be incinerated and turned into electricity.鈥�
Arlington’s new approach to glass is based on environmental and economic sustainability. Keeping glass out of the blue bins will make the paper, metal and plastic more valuable to recyclers. Glass dropped off at Quincy and Trades is crushed in and used locally.
鈥� Arlington Department of Environmental Services (@ArlingtonDES)
The county鈥檚聽鈥渟ingle-stream鈥� recycling systems often shatter glass, which then mixes up different-colored shards and reduces its value,聽Arlington鈥檚 chief of solid waste Erik Grabowsky .
Recouping lost value is also harder than ever because of to stop accepting some recycling materials, which led Arlington鈥檚聽recycling costs to rise from聽$15.73 per ton to $28.62 per ton in the last six months, according to Grabowksy.
鈥淲e do have to come to grips with the fundamental reality that we are living in a fraudulent experience,鈥� said Board Chair Christian Dorsey last night. 鈥淏ecause every time we put glass in our blue containers it鈥檚 not doing what we expect that it does. It鈥檚 being put in a landfill which is contrary to what we want, and not only that, but it鈥檚 costing us more money to do it.鈥�
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Grabowsky said that removing glass will lower the county鈥檚 overall recycling rate this year by 1 percent.
The good news, he says, is that the current recycling rate is 50.1 percent 鈥� a number already exceeding the county鈥檚 goal to recycle 47 percent of waste by 2024.
Now Grabowksy and the county want people to think about buying less glass, and finding ways to re-purpose it before throwing it out.
鈥淯ltimately, what we want to do is establish a new glass hierarchy for Arlington county,鈥� he said. In the press release, the county said residents should consider prioritizing the purchase of items in containers made of 鈥渞ecyclable metal or even plastic.鈥�
Mark Schwartz said he hoped to identify three additional location for glass drop-off centers by August, but acknowledged it may take more time adding recycling facilities to neighborhoods 鈥渕ay not be met warmly.鈥�
Grabowsky said that starting next month, that the county will begin notifying people of the change in recycling glass with with digital and mailed letters.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 anticipate that this would ever be an issue a few years ago,鈥� Schwartz said. 鈥淏ut the economy and the international relationships we鈥檝e had as the United States have changed in the last two years and some months, for some reason.鈥�
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