Up to £8.4 million is being made available to help reduce emissions and household waste across Scotland.

The Scottish Government funding will be given to schemes which boost recycling rates, reduce carbon emissions and re-use resources.

A total of 17 SMEs will share £4.2m through the Circular Economy Investment Fund to develop new products which will re-use whisky by-products, waste plastic and household furniture.

A further £4.2m will be shared by some of the 26 councils which have signed up to the Scottish Household Recycling Charter. The funding will be used to improve the quantity and quality of recycling services.

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Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said the £8.2m investment "will help Scotland become a cleaner and greener country".

She said: "While we have made steady progress on recycling with the amount of household waste recycled in 2016 reaching 45.2% we want to see the pace of these improvements increase. Our investment will make it easier for households and businesses to put their things in the right bin by removing some of the confusion of different systems and working towards a national recycling system.

"As our need to tackle climate change becomes ever more urgent it is crucial that we invest in keeping materials in circulation for as long as possible. Our funding will also make it possible for SMEs to reuse food and drink and textiles and repurpose them into new products which will create jobs and reduce emissions."

(LM)