£18m to help businesses embrace circular economy

A fund worth £18 million has been launched to help small and medium-sized businesses develop a circular economy. Zero Waste Scotland announced the investment aims to accelerate the development of business innovation, […]

A fund worth £18 million has been launched to help small and medium-sized businesses develop a circular economy.

Zero Waste Scotland announced the investment aims to accelerate the development of business innovation, including support for developing new technologies and infrastructure.

A circular economy is based on finding high value uses for materials and keeping them in productive use for as long as possible, instead of discarding them.

The fund is part of a £70 million programme supported through the European Regional Development Fund, which aims to improve business productivity and create a circular economy in Scotland.

Zero Waste Scotland will work with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to help promote the fund and support businesses which could potentially benefit from it.

Scottish Deputy First Minister John Swinney said“Across Europe, shifting towards a more circular economy could generate £1.4 trillion of annual benefits by 2030. It presents significant opportunities for Scotland and that’s why the Scottish Government is showing ambition and commitment in putting support behind the development of circular economy businesses and ideas, and also setting a strategy to drive change.”

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