WEST Dunbartonshire residents are being urged to become more proactive about their recycling ahead of Recycle Week.

Cabinet secretary for the environment Roseanna Cunningham is asking locals to get involved in the week, which runs from September 12 to 18 and aims to raise awareness of the benefits of recycling and promote easy ways to do more.

The MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire said: “We’re lucky to be blessed with a stunning environment, which is one of our most precious assets. It’s crucial that we protect our natural resources and make best use of the world’s limited supplies of raw materials. We have a real opportunity to do this and benefit from growing a more circular economy in Scotland, where we keep products and materials in valuable use for longer.

“We’ve made great progress increasing recycling in recent years. For example in 2010 only 12 per cent of households had food waste collections, while new figures show that has increased to 75 per cent. It has never been easier to recycle your waste, but we still have further to go.”

“People and communities in West Dunbartonshire have a role to play and this September we’ll be encouraging more folk to pick up the recycling habit and do their bit for the environment.”

To find out more about the event, which is co-ordinated by Zero Waste Scotland, or to access the partners guide and materials, visit www.recycleforscotland.com/recycle-week-2016.