Cash boost for green infrastructure

A £3.8 million fund to help businesses develop green infrastructure proposals is now open.

Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead announced the Scottish Recycling Fund (SRF) at the Safeguarding Scotland’s Resources Conference at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh.

The fund will make loans available to organisations interested in developing key sorting, repair and reprocessing capacity for waste materials in Scotland. Improved infrastructure will transform more waste into high value new materials, aiding Scotland’s ambition of creating a circular economy and cutting carbon emissions.

Organisations with innovative ideas for sorting, repairing and reprocessing the following materials are invited to apply:

• plastics
• tyres
• textiles
• glass
• industrial food and drink processing waste
• waste electrical and electronic equipment
• plasterboard

Mr Lochhead said:

“The Scottish Government is backing the industries of the future by making this £3.8 million available to those interested in developing our waste reprocessing industry. By increasing our capacity to deal with this waste here in Scotland, we’ll be less exposed to volatile overseas markets, creating more of the useful raw materials that our business sector requires.

“Realising the value in our waste materials like plastics, textiles and glass will make our economy more circular, while reducing our carbon emissions. I’d strongly encourage any organisations with innovative ideas on waste to find out how this funding can benefit them, making Scotland greener, cleaner and more affluent in the process.”

Iain Gulland, Director, Zero Waste Scotland, said:

“I am delighted to welcome the launch of the Scottish Recycling Fund, which is all about developing the capacity for better resource efficiency in Scotland.

“This is an opportunity for businesses which have workable ideas but lack the capital, to get access to finance to help them realise their plans. The fund also provides an opportunity for Scotland to further develop industries in reuse, repair, reprocessing, remanufacture.

“These are the sustainable Scottish industries which have huge potential to reduce waste and our impact on the environment, while helping us move towards a more circular economy –an economy in which waste is a resource and jobs and growth are created by unlocking its potential.”

Kerry Sharp, Head of the Scottish Investment Bank, said:

“The Scottish Recycling Fund offers Scottish businesses the opportunity to access the finance needed to invest in new infrastructure that will help them not only achieve sustainable business growth through recycling, but will deliver significant environmental benefits for Scotland.

“We work with hundreds of businesses each year to help them tap into the finance needed to grow, and are pleased to partner with Zero Waste Scotland to deliver this exciting new fund for innovative and ambitious Scottish businesses with growth potential.”