Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 10, line 1, after “strategy”)” to insert “and anaerobic digestion shall form part of said strategy,”.

I find it very difficult to understand why there is no mention of anaerobic digestion or an anaerobic digestion strategy in this Bill. Furthermore, there is no mention of agriculture, although the word "farm" does appear in references to the farm to fork strategy. This is surprising because agriculture is an industry that could really lead the way in terms of extending the use of certain products. Section 7 refers to the circular economy strategy and waste action plan and provides that the Minister must have regard to that strategy. Within that, there is mention of anaerobic digestion but it only gets the odd reference here and there. This amendment provides for the inclusion of a references to anaerobic digestion and an anaerobic digestion strategy because Ireland lacks any strategy at all when it comes to anaerobic digestion.

Anaerobic digestion could play an important role in reducing agricultural emissions, which I acknowledge is not the main concern of this Bill, but it also has a strong role to play in the context of the circular economy. The benefits of anaerobic digestion very much speak to the circular economy. It can extend many products that would otherwise just go into the waste stream or into landfill. I have regularly referenced the example of a relatively small anaerobic digester in Timoleague in west Cork which operates like a co-operative movement. It serves a small geographical region. Farmers and some industries in the region feed this anaerobic digester. It is important to say that they do not feed it with products that are specifically grown for anaerobic digestion but with waste products. A local piggery, a local chicken farm and a local distillery all have waste products that would otherwise go to waste which are fed into the digester to produce energy. Indeed, enough energy is produced to generate electricity for a village of approximately 1,000 people, which cannot be dismissed.

There is potentially an enormous role for anaerobic digestion here and what we really need is a national anaerobic digestion strategy. Perhaps that does not form part of this Bill but I would ask the Minister of State to make sure that such a strategy is at least referred to in this Bill. The Bill refers to single-use plastic, CCTV and many other aspects of the circular economy. Anaerobic digestion is an aspect of the circular economy that, at the very least, needs to be referred to in this legislation, especially as it is referred to in the waste action plan for a circular economy. It has to form part of our circular economy strategy and if we do not include it, that will be a missed opportunity. Many other countries in Europe, including the UK, have an anaerobic digestion strategy and it serves them very well. Anaerobic digestion can play two very important roles in agriculture. It can reduce agricultural emissions, thus helping to decarbonise agriculture and it can also extend the life of certain products before they go to waste, which is exactly what the circular economy is all about. I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's view on that.