As an economic indicator, one man's trash is another measure.

• Position: Statewide - Geographic overview

Here's yet another disheartening metric for North Carolina's economy: Tar Heels created, per capita, less trash last fiscal year than in nearly two decades. "As the economy slows, you're not going to be producing the same amount of waste," says Dexter Matthews, director of the N.C. Division of Waste Management. Construction waste, in particular, has plummeted since before the recession began--48% in the last five years--due to the slowdown in building. But North Carolina's reduction in refuse isn't all bad: Last year's ratio of recyclables to trash collected by municipal governments tied 2009-10 for highest in state history.

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WHERE TRASH GETS STASHED Construction and demolition landfills 11% Land-clearing and inert-debris landfills 6% Industrial landfills 24% Solid-waste landfills 59% Note: Table made from pie chart. RECYCLABLES Tires 7.3% Glass 6.5% Metals 4.4% Construction and demolition debris 3.7% Plastic 2.7% Electronics 0.6% Special wastes 0.5% Other 0.1% Fiber 26.2% Organics 48% Note: Table made from pie chart. [GRAPHIC OMITTED]

COUNTY INDEX 199.1-92 to 2010-11per capita change (%) * increase * decrease 1. Alamance 20 2. Alexander 40 3. Alleghany 47 4. Anson 22 5. Ashe 13 6. Avery 27 7. Beaufort 4 8. Bertie 27 9. Bladen 38 10. brunswick 37 11. Buncombe 4 12. Burke 21 13. Cabarrus 35 14. Caldwell 2 15. Camden 8 16. Carteret 21 17. Caswell 12 18. Catawba 25 19. Chatham 20 20. Cherokee 25 21. Chowan 27 22. Clay 23 23. Cleveland 71 24. Columbus 22 25. Craven 31 26. Cumberland 35 27. Currituck 3 28. Dare 5 29. Davidson 19 30. Davie 12 31...