Green Investment Bank launches £50m recycling and waste fund

The Green Investment Bank in the UK has launched a £50 million fund to finance recycling and waste projects across the UK.

The Recycling and Waste LP ("RAW") fund will be managed by Foresight Group LLP which is aiming to raise a further £50m from private sector co-investors to match the GIB's investment.

Business and Energy Minister Matthew Hancock announced the fund saying: "This investment by the Green Investment Bank will be used to fund biopower projects that will put the UK at the forefront of this innovative green technology, turning local waste wood to electricity."

The fund already has an extensive project pipeline in place and marks the GIB's second investment in a Foresight managed initiative with the first being UK Waste Resources and Energy Investments (UKWREI); the GIB's first investment after it became operational in 2012.

UKWREI has backed seven projects including anaerobic digestion plants in rural Northern Ireland, powering 850 homes, and an advanced technology, first-of-its-type system at the UK Birmingham BioPower facility, which uses waste wood supplied by local businesses to power 17,000 homes.

The projects should cut the amount of waste being sent to landfill by more than 275,000 tonnes annually and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 400,000 tonnes a year, the equivalent to taking nearly 180,000 cars off the road.

The 53MW of renewable electricity capacity due to be generated is enough to power over 85,000 homes.