SCOTTISH Borders Council diverts the highest amount of waste from landfill out of all Scottish Local Authorities, according to the latest statistics published by SEPA.

In 2021, only 0.3% of waste from the Scottish Borders, equivalent to 172 tonnes, was sent to landfill.

In addition, the figures show the Scottish Borders as one of the top performing local authority areas in Scotland in terms of recycling percentage.

The Scottish Borders as a whole had a recycling percentage of 54.8% in 2021, an increase on the previous year’s figure of 52.8%, and comfortably above the national average of 42.7%.

This means that across 2021, a total of 29,910 tonnes of material was recycled by Scottish Borders households.

Councillor Jenny Linehan, Executive Member for Environment & Transport, said: “The latest SEPA statistics show yet another increase in recycling performance for the Scottish Borders in 2021 and I’m ecstatic that this means we are the best performing Scottish local authority in terms of least amount of waste directed to landfill.

“This could not have been achieved without the combined efforts of all households across the Scottish Borders who have taken on an individual responsibility to reduce our collective impact on the environment.

“Whilst this is a fantastic achievement, it is extremely important we continue to play our part and recycle as much as possible to further improve our recycling performance in the coming years.”

Leader of Scottish Borders Council, Euan Jardine, said: “A huge thanks must go to the Borders public for their continued recycling efforts which have been instrumental in us achieving such positive results.

“Those efforts combined with the Council’s strategic decisions in recent years to remove the landfill site in the region and secure a new residual waste contract has gone a long way to reducing our long-term impacts on the environment.”