Energy Inefficiency Impacting The Profit Line For Scottish Businesses

Businesses are being urged by Zero Waste Scotland to keep hold of their hard-earned profits by cutting out inefficient energy use.

Figures from Zero Waste Scotland show small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) waste around £19,000 on average each year that could have been avoided simply by making energy efficiency improvements.

Scottish Government loans of up to £100k are available to SMEs to help them make positive efficiency changes, subsequently saving themselves money by reducing waste. Examples include installing LED lighting, better insulation, boiler upgrades and renewable technologies, and can range in scale and cost with unsecured funding of £1,000 to £100,000 available.

In addition to financial assistance businesses also receive their own Resource Efficient Scotland expert advisor to help them make their plans a reality and help with each step of the project.

The SME Loan Fund is a great way for enterprises to make optimum use of energy, water and waste under expert guidance at no extra cost

Zero Waste Scotland Chief Executive, Iain Gulland, said: “We know many businesses share our vision of maximising resource efficiency and keeping costly waste to a minimum, and often it’s the initial investment needed that’s the missing ingredient. The SME Loan Fund is a great way for enterprises to make optimum use of energy, water and waste under expert guidance at no extra cost – ultimately delivering savings while helping the environment.”

Organisations in Scotland could save £2.9 billion every year by using energy, water and raw materials more efficiently. Iain added: “Businesses from a wide range of sectors have already benefitted from SME Loan funding and we want to see even more taking up this fantastic opportunity. We look forward to working with small and medium-sized businesses with big ambitions for reducing their carbon footprint.”