The amount of municipal waste sent for recycling in Scotland has risen to 37.7%, according to figures released by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).
Between October 2009 and September 2010, recycling rates for household waste rose two percentage points relative to the same period in the previous year, when recycling rates stood at 35.7%.
The figure means that Scotland is closing in on its national target of 40% municipal recycling by 2010, as laid out in its Zero Waste Plan.
However, in the quarterly figures for July-September 2010, Scotland’s recycling rate hit 40.5%.
SEPA national waste policy unit manager Kenny Boag said: “The rolling year figure that we have published is the one used to assess how close Scotland is to achieving the national target of 40%.