Recycle Your Glass in Adams County, PA

As residents of Adams County, your township or borough has some say in which waste hauler you can hire to hire for trash pickup and recycling. In some areas, you are required to use a specific hauler. Regardless, none of the haulers currently serving Adams County recycle glass. Most of the haulers won’t accept glass in your recycling bin, but, even if they do, the glass you place in your bin is not recycled. At best, it might be separated and used as “engineering materials” (i.e., temporary road bed) at the landfill. That’s a shame, especially since glass is infinitely recyclable: it can be recycled over and over again without degradation in quality. Further when using recycled glass to make new glass, less raw materials and energy are required. And, less waste ends up in our landfills. It’s a big win for our environment.

But, there is a way for you to recycle your glass in Adams County! Recently, volunteers from the Adams County Community Foundation’s Fund for the Environment, Gettysburg Green Gathering, and Adams Rescue Mission started a glass recycling program.

To recycle your glass, bring your empty bottles and jars to one of three locations:

1. 230 Greenamyer Lane, Gettysburg (aka the Adams County 911 Center), on the first Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. to noon.
2. Adams Rescue Mission (ARM; 2515 York Rd.) on the third Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; or
3. The Adams County Farmers Market in Gettysburg on the third Saturday of May, June, July, Aug., Sept., and Oct. from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Please note, only bring empty glass bottles and jars. We cannot accept plate glass, mirrors, auto glass, porcelain, crystal, china or air freshener refill containers.

Once about 20 tons of glass is accumulated, it is transported to a processing facility in western PA, and, after being cleaned and separated by color, the glass is transported to a bottle manufacturing plant and used as feedstock for new glass bottles. Since inception of this volunteer effort, Adams County residents have recycled nearly 100 tons of glass! (According to PA Department of Environmental Protection, from 2017 to 2023, NO glass from Adams County was recycled… so, this is progress.)

Adams County glass recycling is operated by volunteers and funded through donations and a grant from the Adams County Community Foundation’s Fund for the Environment. To learn more or volunteer, e-mail inquiries to info@gettysburggreengathering.com.

Please recycle your glass! Our smiling volunteers eagerly await you.