Scottish local authority league tables

2025

The Scottish government publishes its recycling rate every Autumn. In October 2026, they published, via SEPA, a rate of 42.8%, down from 44.3% and the lowest in five years. The data can be found here.

Below is a breakdown of how each local authority performed.

2024 league tables can be found here.

Rank	Local authority	Generated (tonnes)	Recycled (tonnes)	Recycling rate (%)	Change from 2024 (pp)
1	Clackmannanshire	24,859	14,048	58.5	+1.3
2	South Ayrshire	51,559	28,398	55.1	+1.8
3	East Lothian	48,432	28,276	54.3	-1.0
4	East Renfrewshire	41,308	22,020	53.3	+2.4
5	Inverclyde	28,654	14,158	53.1	+2.8
6	North Ayrshire	58,606	31,031	52.9	-0.1
7	Stirling	38,521	20,268	52.6	-0.6
8	East Dunbartonshire	50,706	28,373	52.0	-2.3
9	Falkirk	64,651	32,889	50.9	-0.6
10	Moray	44,890	22,809	50.8	-5.9
11	Angus	48,307	24,367	50.4	-2.9
12	Perth and Kinross	73,178	35,686	48.8	-2.1
13	East Ayrshire	52,295	25,487	48.7	-0.5
14	North Lanarkshire	152,243	70,037	46.0	-1.9
15	Midlothian	42,398	19,480	45.9	-2.2
16	Highland	107,249	49,156	45.8	+3.3
17	Aberdeenshire	109,430	48,963	44.7	0.0
18	Scottish Borders	51,142	22,825	44.6	-8.6
19	Fife	160,585	69,205	43.1	-1.4
20	Renfrewshire	77,040	32,872	42.7	-0.1
21	Argyll and Bute	50,108	21,329	42.6	+0.1
22	Dumfries and Galloway	67,016	28,454	42.5	-0.7
23	South Lanarkshire	142,776	60,095	42.1	+1.4
24	West Lothian	71,750	30,218	42.1	-7.2
25	Aberdeen City	88,462	35,924	40.6	-2.5
26	West Dunbartonshire	42,047	16,800	40.0	+1.8
27	City of Edinburgh	200,070	71,683	35.8	-1.7
28	Na h-Eileanan Siar	13,574	4,801	35.4	-4.9
29	Dundee City	63,540	21,652	34.1	-1.0
30	Glasgow City	229,215	59,552	26.0	-4.6
31	Shetland Islands	9,357	1,835	19.6	-0.9
32	Orkney Islands	11,655	2,118	18.2	-2.9

2024

In Autumn 2025, they published their 44.3% recycling rate for 2024. This can be seen here.

Below is a breakdown of how each local authority performed.

Rank	Local authority	Generated (tonnes)	Recycled (tonnes)	Recycling rate (%)	Change from 2023 (pp)
1	Clackmannanshire	23,195	13,274	57.2	+5.2
2	Moray	41,064	23,294	56.7	+0.5
3	East Lothian	48,782	26,959	55.3	+2.2
4	East Dunbartonshire	51,753	28,097	54.3	+8.3
5	South Ayrshire	51,437	27,433	53.3	-1.4
6	Angus	49,257	26,259	53.3	+1.2
7	Scottish Borders	51,172	27,211	53.2	-4.7
8	Stirling	38,991	20,731	53.2	+1.6
9	North Ayrshire	59,996	31,806	53.0	-3.1
10	Falkirk	62,465	32,185	51.5	+0.6
11	Perth and Kinross	71,803	36,569	50.9	-0.8
12	East Renfrewshire	42,084	21,433	50.9	-7.3
13	Inverclyde	26,290	13,220	50.3	+3.4
14	West Lothian	71,725	35,363	49.3	-1.5
15	East Ayrshire	53,051	26,099	49.2	-2.3
16	Midlothian	42,476	20,426	48.1	+0.2
17	North Lanarkshire	151,282	72,401	47.9	+1.2
18	Aberdeenshire	110,493	49,441	44.7	+1.7
19	Fife	170,047	75,751	44.5	-1.4
20	Dumfries and Galloway	65,719	28,366	43.2	+2.0
21	Aberdeen City	89,332	38,475	43.1	+1.3
22	Renfrewshire	73,929	31,659	42.8	-1.2
23	Highland	112,445	47,769	42.5	+6.5
24	Argyll and Bute	49,766	21,137	42.5	+1.8
25	South Lanarkshire	145,708	59,338	40.7	-0.3
26	Na h-Eileanan Siar	13,504	5,443	40.3	+5.2
27	West Dunbartonshire	32,623	12,457	38.2	+2.0
28	City of Edinburgh	198,054	74,217	37.5	-0.5
29	Dundee City	63,016	22,116	35.1	-1.5
30	Glasgow City	235,105	71,906	30.6	+3.4
31	Orkney Islands	9,522	2,005	21.1	-0.3
32	Shetland Islands	9,059	1,861	20.5	-0.2

https://data.gov.scot/sepa/waste/household.html#household_waste_recycled