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A QUICK STOP for COLLECTION e� Convenience stores and gas stations have long been leaders in selling bottled beverages for consumption on- the -go. Our author investigates how one county has worked to also make those retailers prime spots for plastic container diversion. BY BLAIR L. POLLOCK Angysis of plastic container recycling rates in North America often point to an inconvenient truth about convenience: Because plastic water bottles and other containers are designed to be easily utilized away from home, they tend to be discarded In environments without well - established recycling infrastructures. How can the plastics recycling industry address this issue and set up more collection points in key locations? A well- established effort focused on gas stations in one North Carolina county offers insights on how local governments and businesses can work together to make plastics progress in the away -from -home environment. PROGRAM'S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS For over 20 years, the Recycling Division of Orange County, N.C.'s Solid Waste Management Department bas slowly been building a network of convenience stores that have recycling at their gas islands as part of advancing overall away -from -home recycling throughout the county. Orange County is located in central North Carolina and has a population of just under 134,000. The county seat is Hlllsborough, and the county is also home to the tovm of Chapel Hill, the location of a major University of North Carolina campus. Of the approximately 30 convenience stores with gas pumps throughout the county, 16 now have recycling collection and tarts provided by the county. The county's informal program began with a single location that was serviced by a local curbside recycling contractor — the recycling program manager lived nearby, knew the note owner gave him a blue bin and added the stop to the route. Simple enough start. This public program now includes all six Orange County stores in The Pantry chain and aB three Orange County locations from the regional Cruisers chain. It also includes six independently owned stores and the gas islands at the North Carolina Department ofTrampomtion ( NCDOT) maintenance shop. County recycling staff have integrated weekly collections from these sites Into their existing county-wide government building and street -side bin collection program. Many of the stores in the program utilize county- issued carts to collect materials, though the Cruisers chain chose its own style — a larger recycling container instead of a cart is located at each pump island. The NCDOT site, meanwhile, uses a homemade wooden bin. The county estimates that over 700,000 cans and bottles PRU I Nov ber2046 21