A £3.8 million fund for waste sorting and recycling projects has officially been launched in Scotland.

Businesses can submit proposals for sorting, repairing and reprocessing waste materials, including plastics, tyres, textiles, glass, waste electrical equipment and industrial food and drink processing waste.

They can bid for a minimum of £50,000 and a maximum of £1.9 million for their innovation.

Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “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.”

The Scottish Recycling Fund is a key tool to support the Scottish Government’s objectives for sustainable economic growth and making the transition to a low carbon economy.