THE amount of rubbish sent to landfill in Scotland has fallen below 50 per cent for the first time, despite new figures showing an increase in household waste.

Household waste totalling almost 2.5 million tonnes was generated in 2014 - a rise of 1.9 per cent on the previous year but still 147,000 tonnes less than in 2011.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) figures also showed 49.3 per cent of that rubbish was sent to landfill, down from 53.5 per cent in 2013.

Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “For the first time, Scotland has sent less than half of its household waste to landfill - a significant milestone as we journey to becoming a zero-waste nation.

“In 2007, almost two-thirds of Scotland’s household waste ended up in landfill, so today’s figures are great news for the environment and highlight the progress being made.”

Across Scotland, the proportion of rubbish that was sent for recycling increased slightly, going from 42.2 per cent in 2013 to 42.8 per cent last year.

But 20 of Scotland’s 32 councils failed to send half their rubbish or more for recycling, with less than a tenth of waste (9 per cent) in the Shetland Islands being recycled compared to 56.8 per cent in Inverclyde.

There was also wide variation in the percentage of waste councils sent to landfill, ranging from 6.9 per cent in Dundee to 73.4 per cent in Glasgow.

Mr Lochhead said: “The 12 of Scotland’s 32 councils that have met or exceeded 50 per cent recycling, and those that have substantially improved their performance, are to be congratulated. They have set a benchmark and other authorities must now follow that lead.

“The household recycling charter the Scottish Government is working with local authorities to develop should help achieve this.”

Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “It’s great that our national recycling rate continues to rise and that our reliance on landfill is at an all-time low.

“The amount of food waste being recycled has doubled since 2011, showing that many householders have embraced the addition of food waste recycling to their collection services.

“While the trends show that a change in mindset is taking hold, and we are recognising that material we once thought of as waste has value as a resource which can create economic opportunity for Scotland, there’s still more to be done.”

The statistics come days after it emerged that household recycling rates have fallen to their lowest level in seven years amid claims that householders were losing patience at having to split waste into up to seven different categories and wait up to four weeks to have the bins emptied in some areas.

Glass and metal recycling was down but newspapers, magazines, cardboard and paper are up according to Key Scottish Environment Statistics for 2015.