Falls Church City announced that glass would no longer be accepted for pickup in curbside recycling bins, going into effect on February 19. The Little City has joined a program called the Purple Can Club that also includes Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, and Alexandria. 

Recycling glass was deemed “no longer economically or environmentally sustainable” by the Falls Church website and is said to be damaging machines and hiking up the price to transport our recyclables. Without glass, it will be easier, safer, and less expensive to collect the items still accepted in curbside recycling: paper, food cartons, plastic bottles, and metal. 

Although glass will no longer be picked up with the rest of the recyclables, residents of Northern Virginia are encouraged to save their glassware and bring it to large, purple cans located at their local recycling center. For Falls Church, this is on Gordon Road and right off of Route Seven. 

Residents of Falls Church have already raised complaints, grumbling about bringing the heavy glassware to the Recycling Center all at the same time. For freshman Danny Oppenheimer, this was an opportunity to “serve the needs of the community,” as well as make some money.

Danny and his brother, junior Jonathan Oppenheimer, have started a small business, picking up residents’ glassware and delivering to the Falls Church Recycling Center. They offer pickup services once or twice monthly on Wednesdays and charge $5 per pickup. 

The Oppenheimers have already started their pickup and have around 30 customers. They are excited to be able to help the environment in any way they can and hope that Falls Church citizens continue to save their glass for recycling, they said. Falls Church is also hopeful for the future of the Purple Can Club, although it is only a test trial right now.

For more information on Falls Church’s policies recycling, you can visit the Falls Church website, and check out the interactive Purple Can Club map.