Figures issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) have shown that Moray Council is the only local authority in the North and North East currently meeting national recycling targets.
With householders in Moray currently recycling or composting 51.4% of their waste the region has emerged as leading the way in the North – with the nearest to that being achieved by Aberdeen with 37.1%.
However, on a national basis Moray still trails behind East Renfrewshire where almost 60% of all household waste is being recycled or turned into compost.
On average Scottish local authorities are failing to meet the Government’s 50% target, with the average currently sitting at 43.2% – only a slight improvement on 2013 when it was 41.2%.
Moray’s MSP and Environment Secretary at the Scottish Government, Richard Lochhead, insists that a great deal more urgency is required from local authorities who are falling being the national target.
He said: “There are a number of measures we have put in place which will not see an impact until next year’s statistics.
“They include our landmark waste regulations which require councils to provide recycling services to all households as well as food waste collections now being rolled out across Scotland.”
Chairman of the economic development and infrastructure committee at Moray Council, John Cowe, said it now costs £80 for each tonne of waste sent to landfill with the local authority bill last year reaching £2,277,425.
He said: “Our aim is to keep that bill to an absolute minimum and these recycling figures show we are doing well in that regard.”