Arlington County asking residents to stop putting glass in the recycle bin

ARLINGTON, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - Some residential recycling bins in Northern Virginia are about to get a whole lot lighter.

Officials in Arlington County are now asking residents not to recycle glass -- or at least not in the way they're used to doing it.

"If it was gonna be recycled we wouldn't be doing what we're doing," said Solid Waste Bureau Chief Erik Grabowsky. "Since it's not being recycled, it's really a choice of bad alternatives."

Back in October, Grabowsky told FOX 5 DC that the glass residents thought they were recycling was actually going to landfills. That's because the county was losing money when recycling it, largely because the glass had to be sent to other states to be processed. So now, they're asking residents to either throw the glass in the trash or take it themselves to one of two county drop off centers, in which case the glass will actually be recycled.

Grabowsky said Prince William County has also made the change, and when asked about counties that are still recycling it, he replied, "I think everybody is losing money on glass."

He also added that while Arlington County has already asked residents to stop putting glass in their recycling bins, the change doesn't become official until August.