Latest results show Dundee recycled or composted 31.2% of its rubbish between January and March compared with a national average of only 22.2%. It easily beat the other three cities, all of which were below average.

Angus did well on 28.9%, as did Perth and Kinross (27.9%). Fife’s was a little lower on 23.5%.

The figures showed Dundee produced more than 21,000 tonnes of waste during the quarter. More than half of that was burned at the DERL incinerator, but a new use was found for 6600 tonnes with only 3500 tonnes having to be landfilled.

Last month, the city council was awarded £1.3 million by the Scottish Executive to expand its collection of rubbish for recycling by providing more than 7000 on-street containers for people living in tenements.

Across Scotland, more than 760,000 tonnes of rubbish was collected by councils in the first quarter, with almost 170,000 tonnes being recycled or composted.

SEPA’s figures show that over the 12 months to the end of March, Dundee, Angus, Perth and Kinross and Fife all easily beat the national target of recycling 25% of waste.

Environment minister Ross Finnie said he was pleased to see progress being made.

“These latest figures are very encouraging and show we remain well on track to meeting our target of recycling or composting 25% of municipal waste by the end of this year,” he said.

“All councils now have double-digit recycling rates and I would like to thank them for the work that has gone into providing recycling facilities. I also want to thank the public for taking the time to recycle.

“These figures demonstrate that we are learning to live within our environmental means.”

SEPA’s Calum MacDonald said, “These figures highlight just how important it is for people to think about what happens to their waste.”