Councils in Scotland have missed their target to recycle 50% of household waste by 2013, according to new figures published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).
The figures show that in 2013, councils recycled 42.2% of household waste, a slight increase from 41.2% in 2012 and up 10 percentage points from 2007.
Only nine councils managed to achieve the 50% target, with Clackmannanshire recycling the most at 59.9%. The Shetland Islands recycled the least amount of household waste at only 12.2%.
The figures also show that the amount of household waste generated has decreased by 20% between 2007 and 2013, and the amount of waste disposed to landfill continues to decrease at 53.5%.
Environment secretary, Richard Lochhead, warned that all councils need to reach the target and urged further improvement. He said: ‘Whilst the improvement in the recycling rate is not at the level we would like it is still a positive achievement that we are continuing to make progress and importantly I am pleased to see the reduction of 88,000 tonnes in the waste we are generating.
‘I expect the larger local authorities, and indeed all local authorities, to rise to the challenge of achieving the target via compliance with the regulations, innovation and collaboration. This will be key in improving our national performance.’
