Here's another sign of the sour economy: We're producing less trash.
North Carolinians disposed of nearly 1.4 million tons less waste in the year ending June 30 than the year before, according to a new state report. The 9.9 million tons discarded that year came to 1.07tons per person, the lowest average since the mid-1990s.
The report, from the state Division of Solid Waste Management, said a 2008 law requiring bars and most restaurants to recycle bottles and cans also contributed to the decline, as did a significant drop in construction waste. It was the second straight year that the overall amount of trash dropped in North Carolina after several years of increases.
Other findings from the report:
Per capita trash production peaked at 1.36 tons in the year ending June 30, 2006.
More than 110,000 tons of glass, plastic, aluminum and steel containers were sent to recycling facilities in the year ending last June, up about 17percent from the year before.
About 91 percent of the trash produced in North Carolina was buried or burned in the state; the rest, more than 860,000 tons, was exported to South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee or Georgia.
About 140,000 tons of waste burned or buried in North Carolina originated in other states - South Carolina and Virginia.
At the current rate, the 40 municipal solid-waste landfills operating in the state have enough capacity to handle the state's trash for 29 years.
