(L-R): Marissa Lippiatt, Head of Resource Efficient Scotland; Fergus Ewing MSP, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism; Iain Gulland, Director, Resource Efficient Scotland

Today (19 May), Resource Efficient Scotland (RES), a free programme delivered by Zero Waste Scotland and backed by the Scottish Government, marked its first anniversary with a special business event in Edinburgh, where it highlighted achievements from its first year of operation.

The advice and support service was set up last year to help Scottish businesses ‘reduce energy, water and raw materials costs’ and offers ’free support, training and access to funding to help… implement resource efficiency measures’. This includes advice on finance and how to gain access to it.

In addition to this, RES provides a series of sector-specific services for industries that the Scottish Government believes have ‘significant energy saving potential’, including construction, food and drink, hospitality, textiles, chemicals, the public sector and manufacturing.

To celebrate its first year of operations, RES hosted a ‘Sharing Success’ event this afternoon, which featured: a keynote speech from Fergus Ewing, Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism; addresses from Zero Waste Scotland Director Iain Gulland and Head of Resource Efficient Scotland (RES) Marissa Lippiatt; and a panel debate.

The aim of the anniversary event, which was attended by nearly 100 businesses and public sector bodies, was to allow businesses that have engaged with the service to share their experiences and encourage others to ‘take a further step on the journey to greater energy efficiency’.

Businesses speaking out about their engagements with RES included Scotch Whisky distiller and bottler Gordon & MacPhail, who are investing in changes which will reportedly save them £50,000 a year and reduce CO2 emissions by 40 per cent, as well as Scotherbs, Scotland’s only large-scale grower and importer of fresh culinary herbs, which has saved nearly £100,000 annually, mainly by cutting waste in its supply chain.

Achievements in the first year

As well as working with Gordon & MacPhail and Scotherbs, RES has engaged with a further 33,000 organisations. According to RES, the service has so far:

• initiated 25 ‘large savings potential projects’, with 18 of these already completed;
• identified ‘over £10 million in cost savings’ for businesses, primarily in energy efficiency;
• built a Resource Efficient House, to inspire developers to produce more sustainable housing, and reduce the amount of construction waste produced;
• incorporated interest-free loans for small-and-medium sized enterprises as part of the overall support package, including a wider focus on energy, materials and water efficiency; and
• launched the Resource Efficiency Pledge, which calls on businesses to pick between three and six resource efficiency ‘actions’ from across the categories of Business Process; Staff Engagement; and Supply Chain to complete over the course of 12 months.

Speaking at the event, Marissa Lippiatt, Head of Resource Efficient Scotland, said: “In our first year we have engaged with over 33,000 organisations across Scotland. We provide sector specific support, are completely free, and as many of the businesses here today demonstrate, provide support which can result in substantial savings. In our second year we want to reach even more organisations and to see as many of those businesses as possible making savings.”

Iain Gulland, Director of Zero Waste Scotland added: “I am delighted to be marking the first anniversary of our Resource Efficient Scotland programme, a unique and tailored service for organisations of all sizes and all types.

“Making resource efficiency savings happen is one of Zero Waste Scotland’s six key priorities and it’s great to see organisations across Scotland who are committing to take action at the event today. We will continue to provide support to those businesses and others to help them realise real savings through smarter resource use.”

Ewing also commented, saying: “Resource efficiency, economic growth and working towards a more circular economy, are key priorities for the Scottish Government and businesses are a key vital part of that. By looking at where efficiencies can be made being more energy and resource efficient, businesses in Scotland could cut costs significantly and reduce their impact on our environment.”

Read more about Resource Efficient Scotland.