Two Aberdeen businesses have won contracts to help city businesses improve their green-energy credentials.
The work for EIS Waste Services and Keenan Recycling, which recently moved its headquarters from New Deer to Aberdeen, will also help spruce up the city centre and, potentially, allow clients to grow their profits through new waste management initiatives.
Aberdeen Inspired city centre manager Geoff Cooper said the three-year deals making EIS and Keenan preferred suppliers of waste management services in Aberdeen were worth at least £2million to the two firms.
The contracts were awarded by Aberdeen Inspired, which represents more than 700 city centre businesses.
It said the aim was to “bring about positive change in the way in which trade waste is managed”.
The new service could have environmental and financial benefits for more than 1,600 businesses, the group added.
Aberdeen Inspired hopes it will lead to increased recycling and, as a result, a reduction in the amount of waste being sent to landfill.
It also expects the contracts to help improve the “street scene and environment” by providing more regular collections of trade rubbish, while also helping businesses to reduce their spending on waste management.
Food waste services are part of the new partnership, including the supply, collection and treatment of containers which meet all the requirements of Waste Scotland Regulations.
Mr Cooper said: “We are looking forward to working with EIS Waste Services Limited and Keenan Recycling Limited to manage business waste more effectively and, hopefully, reduce costs for our city centre businesses.
“A similar model of waste management is used in Edinburgh city centre and we are keen to replicate its success here in Aberdeen.” The competitive tender process was funded by Scottish Government-funded Zero Waste Scotland as part of efforts to national targets for recycling and reducing waste around the country.