After about a month-long halt, the county's Office of Recycling announced that it will begin accepting glass at the recycling centers again.

Auto Recyclers in Buena Vista will be taking the glass, grinding it up and using it to fill a large hole behind their building. The Department of Environmental Quality approved the use of glass as fill material, according to County Recycling Coordinator Kim Thompson.

The solution, however, is only temporary.

"This will allow us more time to try and find a permanent solution," said Thompson.

Last month the county stopped accepting glass after they collected more glass than they could use.

Rockbridge County recycles about five tons of glass every month. By weight, it is the second most recycled product. Paper is number one, said Thompson.

Toria Brown, a worker at the Healthy Food Co-op Market and Café on Washington Street, said it was difficult to stop recycling once she started.

Brown pointed to a green recycling bin near the back of the cash register, now filled with glass bottles.

Customers, who were upset over the halt, were told by the Office of Recycling that there was nothing they could do, she said.

"It broke our heart to have to throw away glass," said Brown.

Rockbridge County's problem with recycling glass began shortly after Cycle Systems in Roanoke shut down their glass recycling program last year due to cost.

Despite this setback, the county was able to continue accepting glass by putting it to use as filler at the landfill.

Yet Virginia is not the only state experiencing this problem.

Other states such as California, New York, Oregon and Connecticut have introduced "bottle bills" in response to this nation-wide problem.

Consumers, who purchase a glass bottle, pay a few cents extra and are refunded at the recycling centers.

Chris Wise, the Environmental Management coordinator of recycling at Washington and Lee University, said that one of the main problems with recycling glass is the cost.

Because it is heavier, it costs more to transport. Glass also has to be separated by color, he said.

"There's only one thing that's going to help and that's a bottle bill," said Wise.

Although it may not eliminate the problem of cost, a bottle bill in Virginia would help eliminate litter while increasing business opportunities, he said.

Wise urged Virginians to get on the "bandwagon."