East Renfrewshire is "leading the way in recycling" in terms of the percentage of household waste being recycled, the council has said.

The latest figures released by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency show the area has the highest level of recycling in Scotland at 58.2%.

The statistics, which cover the period from January to December 2023, show that the national average is 43.5%.

East Renfrewshire Council Leader Owen O’Donnell said: “This is a really great achievement for East Renfrewshire."

In total East Renfrewshire generated 37,863 tonnes of household waste during this period. 

Residents recycled more than 22,000 tonnes of waste in 2023, which the local authority said helped it achieve an increase on the 2022 results from 56%.

A total of 12,830 tonnes, meanwhile, went to another diversion other than landfill (33.9%) and a further 3,008 tonnes (7.9%) was landfilled.

"Increased recycling is not only beneficial to the environment, but it also helps us save significantly on landfill costs.

"We’re committed to continually improving our performance, so it’s especially pleasing to see our rate increase on the previous year and we’d like to thank all of our residents for helping make East Renfrewshire a cleaner and greener place for all to enjoy.”