Scotland unveils zero-waste plans

In a bid to become a zero-waste economy, the Scottish Government is to commit £500,000 to new technologies to boost recycling and reduce waste packaging.

According to BusinessGreen, under the Zero Waste Scotland initiative the Government will launch two new funds - a £200,000 product and packaging fund, and a £300,000 waste recovery fund.

With efficient recycling the key area of focus, the Government has opened both to applications. It hopes to target the money at creative product and packaging design, as well as ground-breaking resource recovery technologies such as systems for extracting valuable metals from electronic equipment.

Environment secretary Richard Lochhead said the investment will help the country to meet its high-profile target of ensuring that zero waste goes to landfill.

"Innovation is vital if we are to become a zero-waste society," he said. "New technologies can help us reduce our reliance on natural resources and enable us to create value from the existing materials we use."

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