Climate Week which runs until Sunday 5 October, is an annual event encouraging people across Scotland to make changes in their lives to help the planet.

The council is encouraging residents to ensure any food waste they do have is recycled correctly.

Currently 59% of Scotland’s food waste comes from households.

By reducing the amount of food you waste you can help reduce the amount of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere which contributes to climate change.

Following waste compositional analysis of what residents are putting in their wheelie bins it was found that more than a third of waste being put into everyone’s non-recyclable waste bin should have gone in their burgundy compostable waste bin.

Food packaging and plastic drinks containers should also be recycled correctly using the light grey bin.

All cooked and uncooked food can be recycled using your burgundy bin including meat and bones, eggshells, fruit and vegetables, bread, fish, pasta, tea bags and other items.

All households in South Lanarkshire are able to receive free burgundy bin collections for food waste, including those in rural Clydesdale who did not previously receive this service.

If you do not have a burgundy bin and would like one delivered free of charge, please complete our ‘order a new recycling bin’ form.

Remember, while a £45 permit is required to put garden waste in the bin, food waste is still collected and recycled for free.

Councillor Robert Brown, the council’s Chair of Community and Enterprise Resources, said: “Scotland’s Climate Week is an opportunity to reflect on how our actions can contribute to our climate and environment.

“Food waste can have harmful effects on the climate when it is not recycled, so we would like to encourage as many people as possible to recycle their food waste using their free burgundy bin collections.

“Compostable food waste liners can be obtained from your local supermarket.”

More details on how to tackle food waste and to save time and money can be found on the Zero Waste Scotland website where you can also take a free bite-sized food waste online course to discover more ways to reduce food waste.