North-east councils have been rubbished for their below-average record of recycling.
Latest figures from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency show that Aberdeen City Council has fallen into the bottom ten local authorities in Scotland with just 39% of waste being recycled in 2016.
That was a rise of just half a percent from 2015.
Aberdeenshire, meanwhile, recycled around 43.5% of its rubbish, but only improved by 0.2%.
The Scottish average percentage for council’s recycled waste is 45.2%.
A massive 60% and 55% of waste in the city and shire respectively went to landfill last year.
Both councils have launched ambitious programmes with new bin roll-outs to boost recycling, in advance of the introduction of tougher Scottish Government targets two years hence.
They have also also both signed up to a joint incinerator scheme planned for Torry which will burn landfill waste for heat when it becomes operational in 2019.
But last night, Aberdeen Central SNP MSP, Kevin Stewart, called for “urgent action” to make sure the new bin collections are “more user friendly”.
Mr Stewart said: “I think folk in Aberdeen want to be more environmentally friendly in their day-to-day lives, but recycling schemes must be straightforward and collections have to run on time.
“I have heard from many constituents that bin collections for food recycling over the past several months have been late, and sometimes have even been completely missed.
“Aberdeen can do much better than a 0.5% improvement, and I sincerely hope the issues with waste management this year won’t cause this city to go backward in how much we are recycling out of our homes.”
However, Aberdeen’s infrastructure vice-convener, Philip Bell, said:“Despite the budget cuts from the Scottish Government, we’ve undergone a huge overhaul in city’s waste management.
“The most recent figures show participation in the new scheme has increased this year and every effort is being made.”
“The new regime represents a transformational step change which has took time to implement and work is ongoing to get it right.”
John Cox, vice chair of Aberdeenshire council’s infrastructure committee, said: “All effort is being made to increase these recycling rates but it’s not quick going.
“There are solutions, but it’s not just about spending money, we have to make people change their habits as well.”
