A REFUSE survey is ­being launched by East Dunbartonshire Council and Zero Waste Scotland in a bid to improve recycling rates.

Waste officers will ­examine random collection samples throughout the authority, beginning next Monday.

Councillor Ashay Ghai, depute leader of the Council and convenor of Neighbourhood Services, said: "In East Dunbartonshire we ­already have some of the highest rates of ­recycling throughout the country and our residents should be proud of the efforts they have already made.

"These figures can ­always be improved though and the aim of these surveys is to find out if there's any item which is regularly being sent to landfill which could be recycled."

A small sample of ­refuse and recycling collections will be ­chosen at random and emptied into a separate waste vehicle next week.