Yorkshire and Humber SMEs get £800,000 to improve resource efficiency

The money comes via CO2Sense, a not-for-profit company and subsidiary of regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward. It is being distributed in two funding packages: a 'Greenhouse Gas Savings Capital Investment Fund' and an 'Innovative Resource Efficiency Projects Fund'. The aim of the funding is to help the region create a business sector that can compete in the low carbon economy by enabling businesses to use fewer resources and for those businesses in the environmental sector to grow.

Through the Greenhouse Gas Savings Fund companies can bid for grants ranging from £1,000 to £100,000 for services that deliver on areas such as waste reduction, reuse and recycling, energy efficiency and water savings. Projects that secure funding will be expected to hit CO2 reductions targets, divert waste from landfill and secure business growth (e.g. a recycling or reprocessing project, or the manufacture of an innovative product that uses recycled material, or reduces energy or water consumption).

The Innovative Resource Efficiency Projects Fund is designed to support projects that "break new ground in resource efficiency" with funds available for projects that increase the uptake of environmental advice, offer support to businesses to reduce their resource consumption, and offer innovative solutions for priority materials and sectors.

The first tranche of funding through the Innovative Resource Efficiency Projects Fund ha already been distributed across 13 projects, including one that encouraging glass manufacturers to trial and use light weighted glass containers in their processes; one that helps businesses across the region re-design products and packaging to save money and reduce their carbon impact, and a Building Resource Centre, where building material cans be dropped off and reused or sold.

Andy Hartley, operations director of CO2Sense Yorkshire said: “Our key aim is to increase the competitiveness, capacity, quality and scale of companies in the resource efficiency sector in Yorkshire and Humber. These funding packages will help businesses to grow and prosper, increasing regional competitiveness, and generating the expertise to transform Yorkshire and Humber into a low carbon economy.”

The deadline for submitting a proposal for capital investment funding under the Greenhouse Gas Savings Fund is March 1 2010.

The second round of funding under the Innovative Resource Efficiency Projects Fund businesses is open to submissions up until February 18 2010.