Dumfries circular economy business UniGreenScheme to cut carbon, prevent waste and create 120 jobs
UniGreenScheme’s expansion into new premises in Dumfries is expected to save more than one million kg of CO₂e each year, while creating new green jobs and keeping valuable laboratory equipment in use for longer.
The new refurbishment centre on Irongray Road, supported by our £420,000 grant from South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE), will help UniGreenScheme scale its laboratory equipment resale model from Dumfries.
The expansion will allow the company to grow its laboratory equipment resale model and is predicted to create over 120 local jobs in the next decade.
Who is UniGreenScheme?
UniGreenScheme works with over 90 universities, including every university in Scotland, as well as hundreds of other large organisations across the UK, to give surplus laboratory equipment a second life rather than allowing valuable assets to go to disposal.
By extending the useful life of scientific equipment, the company supports the circular economy while helping organisations reduce waste, free up space and recover value, with a share of the profits returned to the original institutions.
Last year alone, UniGreenScheme returned more than £750,000 to the sector, and the company has saved organisations more than £6million compared with disposal.
The company was launched in Wales in 2015 by a student frustrated at seeing usable laboratory equipment being thrown away.
It has since grown to become one of the largest laboratory equipment reuse organisations in the world.
Investment in the South of Scotland
- UniGreenScheme opened premises at Lochmaben in 2018. Its move to Irongray Road in Dumfries, supported by our £420,000 investment, gives the business significantly more space to expand operations and keep specialist equipment in use for longer.
- The new premises will allow UniGreenScheme to hold and process more than 6,000 pallets of surplus laboratory equipment at any one time.
- Over the next decade, the expansion is expected to prevent almost four million kg of equipment waste in Scotland and save 19 million kg CO₂e — the equivalent of taking 4,400 cars off the road.
Scotland's Climate Week
The announcement, made during Scotland’s Climate Week, highlights how businesses and communities can cut carbon not only through new technology, but by making better use of the valuable equipment and materials that already exist.
More details on Scotland’s Climate Week are available.
Michael McLeod, Managing Director of UniGreenScheme, said:
“We’re incredibly grateful to South of Scotland Enterprise for their support.
“Demand for our resale services is growing fast, and without this investment we simply couldn’t keep up with it.
“Scotland has been central to that growth. We now work with every university in Scotland, and the move to Irongray Road gives us the space to take on much more surplus laboratory equipment and give it a second life rather than see it go to waste.
“It means more jobs in Dumfries and more people dedicated to rehoming scientific equipment, while allowing our new site to play a much bigger role in creating a world-leading laboratory equipment reuse and recertification centre here in the South of Scotland.”
Nenad Denkov, Scotland Business Manager at UniGreenScheme, said:
“Every day, we’re getting more calls from organisations asking us to collect surplus equipment, but without enough space we’ve often had to turn work down.
“The new premises will give us the capacity to take on far more equipment and put it back into use.”
Jane Morrison-Ross, SOSE’s Chief Executive, said:
“UniGreenScheme is a proven, fast-growing business with a clear mission: to combine sustainability, innovation and economic development.
“This is exactly the kind of investment we want to see in the South of Scotland – practical, ambitious and rooted in a global challenge.
“UniGreenScheme’s expansion in Dumfries means more skilled jobs, more green business activity and a stronger circular economy presence in the South of Scotland.
“This announcement comes on the back of our annual results, which showed our investments generated £3.33 for every pound invested and contributed almost £61million to the South of Scotland economy.
“We are confident UniGreenScheme will contribute not only to the local economy, but also to the sustainability of Scotland’s Natural Capital Innovation Zone.”
Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs Gillian Martin said:
"This £420,000 investment from South of Scotland Enterprise underlines the importance of capitalising on the economic opportunities that a circular economy presents to businesses.
"UniGreenScheme's new factory, which will support the company's ambitions to expand its laboratory equipment resale model, highlights how reducing, reusing and recycling materials has a huge role to play in Scotland's response to tackling the climate crisis."