Glass Reincarnation in Prince William County

Recycling Glass Benefits the Community

Do you believe in reincarnation? Well, every glass bottle could live a thousand different lives—but only if it’s recycled. In a world drowning in waste, glass stands out as one of the few materials that can be recycled endlessly without losing quality.  Compared to a glass bottle spending more than 1,000,000 years in a landfill simply taking up valuable space because of its inert nature and recycling glass instead of throwing it in the trash should be an easy decision.

Glass is valued for its hygienic properties due to its inert composition, free from toxic substances, which makes it ideal for packaging everything from water to soda and other beverages, food to oil, cosmetics to pharmaceuticals, and even pet care products can be found in glass.

Glass is easily recycled because it can be remelted and reformed into new products with the same qualities as the original, a process known as closed-loop recycling. Recycling glass offers significant environmental benefits, including:

• Saves on raw materials: over a ton of natural resources are conserved for every ton of glass recycled, including 1,300 pounds of sand, 410 pounds of soda ash, 380 pounds of limestone, and 160 pounds of feldspar.
• Saves on energy use. Compared to making glass from raw materials for the first time, it potentially saves up to 30% of the energy. 
• Reduces related air pollution by 20% and related water pollution by 50%, compared to glass produced from raw materials.
• Reduces the amount of space that would otherwise be taken up by bottles and jars in landfills.

Glass is valued for its hygienic properties due to its inert composition, free from toxic substances, which makes it ideal for packaging everything from water to soda and other beverages, food to oil, cosmetics to pharmaceuticals, and even pet care products can be found in glass.

Recycled glass is a valuable material across various industries. It is commonly used to create landscaping materials, decorative tiles, and new glass containers, even building installation. The benefits of recycling are recognized by manufacturers and governments, encouraging the reuse of glass containers.

Prince William County recognizes the value glass recycling provides to the environment and the useful life of the landfill.  Since 2019, the County has provided special purple trailers specifically for glass container recycling.  From April 2019 to May 2025, more than 3,000 tons of glass have been collected for recycling by this special program.  To make it easy and convenient for residents to recycle their glass bottles, jugs and jars there are five locations in the county. 

Purple “glass only” recycling trailers locations:    

• Prince William County Landfill Convenience Center
• Prince William County Compost Facility Convenience Center
• McCourt Administration Building parking lot, near Greatbridge Road and Ricter Way, just off Prince William Parkway
• Ferlazzo Building parking lot
• James Long Regional Park entrance area
• Other locations in Northern Virginia

Keep in mind, the purple trailers are only for glass containers (bottles, jugs and jars). It is okay to leave on lids.  Residents are asked not to place any glass items in with their regular recycling.  Instead, collect the glass containers and then take them to one of the five purple glass trailer locations when it is convenient, so they can begin the reincarnation/recycling process.  

Importantly, other types of glass such as ceramics, cookware, drinking glasses, incandescent light bulbs, windshields, windowpanes, mirrors, etc., should not be placed in the purple glass recycling trailers.  These items should be considered for donation and  reuse, or other disposal options.  Check out the A to Z Disposal Guide for Prince William County residents for advice on recycling or disposal of more than 300 items.