Residents in unincorporated Douglas County may have an easier time recycling with a pilot program that may soon be put into motion.

The project, which will be discussed with Douglas County Commissioners on Wednesday, would establish three recycling drop-off locations within the county, said Eileen Horn, the county’s sustainability coordinator.

“As a county we currently don’t offer curbside recycling to residents in unincorporated areas,” Horn said. “We knew we could do an easy pilot project and see what kind of demand there is for people in the unincorporated areas.”

Previously many rural county residents took their single-stream (mixed paper, plastic and metal) recyclables to Wal-Mart’s recycling center at 3300 Iowa St., Horn said. But when the recycling facility closed last fall, it created a “definite service vacuum,” she said.

The three proposed drop-off locations would be:

• Douglas County Public Works Facility, 3755 East 25th St., Lawrence.
• Stull United Methodist Church, 251 North 1600 Road, Lecompton.
• Wakarusa Valley School, 1104 East 1000 Road, Lawrence.

For the pilot program the county would likely use recycling containers provided by Honey Creek Disposal Inc., Horn said. Because it is not yet clear how often the containers will need to be emptied, the annual cost to operate the three sites could range from anywhere between $6,300 and $18,900.

If commissioners approve the proposal, the pilot program could be put into effect by this fall, Horn said. Then at least six months will be needed with the program to gauge where to go next, she said.

“It’s really an experiment to see if these are the right locations and what kind of demands currently exist,” Horn said.

County commissioners will meet at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St.