Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead believes that the re-manufacturing industry has the potential to add nearly £2 billion to the local economy.

The minister made his views known during a meeting at the Holyrood Waste Conference scheduled to highlight the publication of a report commissioned by Zero Waste Scotland and Scottish Enterprise.

Mr Lochhead said: “The re-manufacturing industry, where we restore and extend the life of a product, is a key area with momentum in Scotland. It employs some 17,000 people and is already currently valued at £1.1 billion.

"The figures speak for themselves, and it is clear that creating more opportunities in this area will be a huge benefit to the economy. In fact, re-manufacturing activity in Scotland could grow by up to £620 million by 2020 and bring up to 5,700 new jobs to the country.

“A few weeks ago, I officially launched the Scottish Institute of Remanufacture, which is the first such centre in Europe and one of only four in the world — alongside Singapore, New York and Beijing.

"I also visited Mackies, which is a company in the East End of Glasgow that re-manufactures gearboxes. There are many specialists working in re-manufacturing in Scotland, ranging from family businesses like Mackies to major international companies such as Cummins’s Diesel Recon, which re-manufactures diesel engines, and the Weir Group, which re-manufactures centrifugal pumps, steam turbines and compressors.”

Mr Lochhead said that the new report points to the Scottish Institute of Remanufacture as a model of good practice for the UK, while stating that the rest of the UK is lagging behind onre-manufacturing. “The report identifies the major areas of re-manufacturing activity in Scotland — the aerospace, automotive, energy and rail sectors. There are other sectors that could also support significant re-manufacturing activity, including IT and medical equipment.”