Funding boost for Scottish remanufacturing

Zero Waste Scotland, Scotland’s official sustainability organisation, has announced a new £100,000 fund for innovative solutions that could be creating a remanufacturing boom.

Remanufacturing in Scotland has the potential to grow by over 50% from its current value of £1.1bn by 2020, creating up to 5,700 new jobs, the Scottish Government believes. Enabling the return of high-value, priority products and materials - like electronics and machinery - back into remanufacture is the key to developing a thriving, profitable remanufacture and re-use economy in Scotland, according to Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS).

ZWS intends to focus on how Scotland can capture more items such as small domestic electronics, commercial and industrial machinery and equipment (such as automotive parts, medical equipment or even railway rolling stock), furniture, or packaging. The competitive fund offers awards of up to £100,000 over two years to trial innovative solutions within Scotland for the first time.

Chief Executive Iain Gulland said: "The remanufacturing sector presents a fantastic economic opportunity for Scotland, and Zero Waste Scotland is focused on getting the right infrastructure and supply of products and materials in place for Scotland to reap the rewards."

The fund is open to 18 September 2015, to bidders with a commercially sustainable, robust business plan that could plug into existing networks and create jobs and training opportunities.