Rob Taylor, Orange County's recycling programs manager, received the Ralph W. Ketner Employee Productivity Award from the N.C. Association of County Commissioners.

The tonnage that Orange County recycles went up 22 percent during the past year. Most of that 107-ton increase was in electronics recycling, up from 187 tons to 290. That increase raised Orange County's collection rate per capita to the highest in North Carolina.

This was among the highest in the nation, according to the N.C. Division of Pollution Prevention.