A recycling company has opened a second recycling plant near Cumbernauld as part of a £7million investment into the business expansion.

Brewster Brothers, who have recycled over a million tonnes of construction waste from landfill, have designed the second plant with the capability to recycle an additional 300,000 tonnes of construction, demolition and excavation (CDE) waste annually for re-use in the building trade.

Scott Brewster, managing director of Brewster Brothers, said: "It’s increasingly clear that the construction sector in Scotland appreciates the need to reduce the amount of natural resources that the industry uses and the amount of carbon it emits while increasing use of recycled and secondary materials.

"The volume of construction, demolition and excavation waste that’s been recycled over the last six years has grown enormously, and our investment into this second site demonstrates that there’s room for a further expansion in this area.

"Following the opening of our new plant near Cumbernauld, we will be able to service 44% of Scottish construction projects, while keeping the carbon footprint of our own operations to a minimum."

Glasgow Times: Scott Brewster and his father Alex Brewster at the new Gartshore site

The new plant will serve construction sites, housing and utilities developments in the Western Central Belt. It said with optimised lorry loads carrying either waste or product, the transportation effects on climate change will also be reduced.

The enterprise's first site near Livingston has prevented approximately 1.35 million tonnes of CDE waste from heading to landfill in the past six years.

This has created more than one million tonnes of recycled aggregates, which were sold back to the industry. By expanding their operations, Brewster Brothers have regenerated the old Gartshore Works near Cumbernauld.

The company said it will also recycle the old bing of colliery waste on site, and transform the area into a country park for the local community to promote biodiversity and provide new recreational space.

Mr Brewster said: "Scotland has big ambitions for transitioning to a circular economy, and the government plans to bring in a new devolved aggregates tax that should accelerate the shift away from the use of virgin products.

"Brewster Brothers’ intent is to bring an innovative and pragmatic approach to working with a sector that is one of the country’s biggest generators of waste to improve environmental practice and raise awareness of the sustainable options available.”