(l-r): Shaun Kingsbury, chief executive of GIB; business minister Matthew Hancock; and Nigel Aitchison, head of environmental at Foresight

The Green Investment Bank has set up a £50 million investment fund targeting smaller-scale recycling and waste projects across the UK.

The new fund – Recycling and Waste LP (“RAW”) – will be managed by Foresight Group LLP which will raise at least a further £50m from private sector co-investors to match GIB’s investment. The fund already has an “extensive” pipeline in place according to GIB.

The fund is GIB’s second investment in a Foresight managed fund. The first fund – UK Waste Resources and Energy Investments (UKWREI) – was GIB’s first investment upon becoming operational in 2012.

UKWREI has supported projects ranging from, small-scale on-farm anaerobic digestion plants in rural Northern Ireland, powering 850 homes, to the Birmingham waste wood facility.

Unveiling the fund, business minister Matthew Hancock, said: “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. Today I have been able to see first-hand the work that is being done to get projects off the ground.   This state of the art plant in Birmingham will be the first of its kind in the UK. It uses a new type of gasification system and will not only power 17,000 homes and recycle waste more efficiently but will also boost the local economy and create 100 local jobs.”