£8.4m to reduce emissions and waste in Scotland

Scottish Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham has announced £8.4 million for projects that will increase recycling rates, reduce emissions and re-use resources.

17 small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) will receive approximately £4.2 million of the funding to develop new products which will re-use whisky by-products, waste plastic and household furniture, through the Circular Economy Investment Fund.

The other half of the investment, available to the 26 councils signed up to the Scottish Household Recycling Charter, will improve the quality and quantity of recycling in a bid to create a consistent national system.

Cunningham said: “While we have made steady progress on recycling with the amount of household waste recycled in 2016 reaching 45.2 per cent we want to see the pace of these improvements increase. Our investment will make it easier for households and businesses to put their things in the right bin by removing some of the confusion of different systems and working towards a national recycling system.

“As our need to tackle climate change becomes ever more urgent it is crucial that we invest in keeping materials in circulation for as long as possible. Our funding will also make it possible for SMEs to reuse food and drink and textiles and repurpose them into new products which will create jobs and reduce emissions. This investment, on top of our Programme for Government commitments of introducing a deposit return scheme and looking at ways of tackling our unnecessary throwaway culture will help Scotland become a cleaner and greener country.”