Perth & Kinross Council has been awarded £2.36 million from the Scottish Government's Recycling Improvement Fund to raise recycling rates.

The funding will also be used to increase participation in kerbside collections, improve the quality of recycling and help the local authority achieve net zero.

It will support a new twin-stream recycling service that will introduce separate paper/card and plastic/metal/carton collections in 2023. The new service will be introduced to approximately 73,000 properties across Perth & Kinross.

Householders will be given an additional bin to enable them to sort and present the two different material streams separately and collections of paper/card and plastic/metal bins will take place monthly on alternate fortnights.

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This will give Perth & Kinross Council the opportunity to look at increasing the range of materials available for kerbside collection for recycling, such as soft and flexible plastics and assist residents with the transition to the national Deposit Return Scheme.

The funding will also contribute to the roll-out of dry mixed recycling and food waste recycling to over 1000 households in Perth city centre this year.

Environment, Infrastructure and Economic Development Convenor Councillor Andrew Parrott said: "This is a significant award and both these projects aim to work in partnership with our residents to increase recycling participation and improve material quality. It will potentially allow us to recycle an even greater range of materials which is a service improvement our residents have requested

"Tackling climate change is one of this Council's priorities and these new measures are an important step on our journey to net zero.

"We all have a part to play in addressing climate change and I am sure residents will recognise the benefits of these changes."

Councillor Parrott added: "Introducing food waste recycling in Perth will also cut down on the amount of food that ends up in landfill.

"That may seem harmless, but it produces methane, which is an even more harmful greenhouse gas than CO2."