Scotland's councils are ready to reopen recycling centres to the public next month if Holyrood ministers give the green light.
The facilities were shut during the early days of lockdown in March but have since reopened in England with social distancing measures in place.
A briefing paper drawn up Cosla - the body which represents Scottish councils - reveals that plans are in place for recycling centres to open by June 1 - but only if ministers give the go-ahead.
"There is now a case for actively pursuing the reopening of recycling centres, for a point in time where this is considered safe to do so," it said.
Nicola Sturgeon said earlier this week that refuse facilities were being looked at for a potential reopening but that no final decision had been made.
The Scottish Conservatives today called on the First Minister to ensure they were reopened as soon as possible to prevent more instances of fly-tipping.
Graham Simpson, the party's local government spokesman, said: “Councils are ready to reopen recycling centres and they believe they can do so safely. The only thing holding them up is the SNP.
“The longer they delay the worse fly-tipping will get and the bigger the clean-up operation.
“There is already huge pent-up demand from the public to be able to dispose of their rubbish at these centres. Councils need to be able to work towards a date for getting things started again.
“The Scottish Government needs to give the go ahead immediately or the health implications of fly-tipping will just get worse.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “As the First Minister indicated on 10 May, we are looking at this issue but as yet no decision has been taken.
"We are working closely with Cosla and local authorities and will provide a further update on those discussions in the near future.”
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