SCOTTISH households are the most environmentally friendly in the UK, according to new research which shows they have the highest recycling rates in the country.
Mid Scotland and Fife is the country’s greenest area – residents there recycle more than 55% of their domestic waste – followed by Lothian (51%) and Central (48%).
The figures compare to a UK average of 45% of household waste being recycled – a figure considerably behind Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany, where around 60% of household waste is recycled.
However, Scotland’s biggest city Glasgow sits at the bottom of the UK table with residents recycling only a quarter of their waste.
Around 18 million tonnes of rubbish is sent to landfill every year across the UK, with everybody throwing away their body weight in waste every seven weeks.
The research was part of an ongoing study into people’s home recycling and energy saving habits by home interiors specialist Hillarys.co.uk. It showed that people in England recycled less than Scotland’s most environmentally-friendly areas, on average 47%, although there were regional variations.
The east and the south-west matched the average and the West Midlands recorded a fraction over 44%.
Residents of Northern Ireland also came in below the UK average at 44%, but once again were subject to regional variations.
People in the north-east were the greenest with a score of 44%, while the south-east and southern regions managed 43%.
Wales came bottom of the entire UK table with an average figure of just 40% – Mid Wales residents recycled 40% of domestic waste, followed by the south-west of the country (38%) and south-east Wales just 36%.
Tara Hall, spokesperson for Hillarys.co.uk, said: “The findings from this research are certainly interesting, and seeing these facts presented visually really helps us to understand our impact on the environment.”
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