When it comes to the amount of trash produced, Oregon is moving in the wrong direction. A new report Monday from the Department of Environmental Quality shows households are producing more solid waste, but recycling and composting less of it.    

Oregonians threw out the weight of 14 Empire State Buildings worth of trash last year. State environmental officials say about 47 percent of those pizza boxes, apple cores and plastic bags never made it to the landfill.  Instead, they were diverted to be recycled, composted or burned to make energy.  This is often called “recovery” or “diversion.”