PLANS to create 100 jobs in Renfrewshire by opening a £75million rubber recycling plant have been unveiled.

And the family of millionaire Boohoo co-founder Mahmud Kamani are behind the ambitious project, The Gazette can reveal.

SSH Recycling want to open a “state-of-the-art” hub in Linwood to process old tyres.

Mr Kamani’s older brother Nurez, 59, is a former director of Boohoo and an investor in SSH.

Nurez’s 31-year-old son Suleman is a director of the recycling firm and, along with his sisters Hannah and Sara, is a shareholder in the company.

It is hoped the Linwood processing plant will be up and running by autumn 2023, with more than 11 million old tyres passing through each year.

SSH submitted a ‘Proposal of Application Notice’ to Renfrewshire Council last month and has also launched a public consultation.

Robert Keay, director of operations at SSH Recycling, said: “We’re hugely excited to be submitting plans to build this tyre processing plant in Linwood, which if successful will bring over 100 new jobs to the area.

“In Scotland, over 100 tyres are turned into waste every 15 minutes, creating a waste tyre problem that can lead to both legal and illegal dumping and the exportation of tyres to be burned abroad at a significant carbon cost.

“Our proposed processing plant will solve this problem, using a ground-breaking system that will see every part of the waste tyre broken down to be recycled or reused.”

SSH said recycled waste will be turned into products such as rubber sheets, shoe soles and conveyor belts.

The site at Lyon Road/Burnbrae Road was chosen because it is already a well-established recycling centre and has excellent road and infrastructure links.

Boohoo was founded in 2006 as an online clothing retailer and, by 2019, had sales of almost £860million.

Last month, it bought Debenhams out of administration for £55m.
A company spokeswoman confirmed Nurez Kamani is an investor in SSH Recycling.

She added: “SSH Recycling is a completely separate venture from the clothing business.”

A spokesperson for Renfrewshire Council said SSH’s planning application will be considered “through the usual process.”

To learn more about the proposed scheme, visit www.sshrecyclingltd.com.