Mr. Paul Kelly:

I thank the committee for the invitation to appear today. The food and drink sector is Ireland's largest indigenous manufacturing sector, with a turnover of more than €29 billion and accounting for 165,000 jobs. Government has set out ambitious sustainability targets for the sector. Food and drink manufacturing must play its part in achieving emission reductions of 35% across the enterprise sector by 2030. Food Vision 2030, the ten-year national agrifood strategy, has a vision of Ireland becoming a world leader in sustainable food systems. The waste action plan for a circular economy touches on many areas where the sector can play a role, particularly around food waste, plastic and packaging waste and byproducts.

Food Drink Ireland, FDI, represents 150 food and drink manufacturers and suppliers. The sustainability group within FDI was established to bring together subject-matter experts from member companies to discuss and disseminate information on sustainability developments. Our members are committed to contributing to the creation of a circular economy and working collaboratively along the supply chain with suppliers, retailers and consumers to support sustainable consumption patterns. Our forthcoming report, Prepared Consumer Food Sustainability Report: Driving better practices across the supply chain, will give a sense of the level of commitment, investment and innovation from the sector. Food and drink companies will continue to push for improved circularity and environmental performance of their products, wherever possible, while ensuring the highest level of quality and safety.

It is worth noting that the food waste generated in the sector is very different from that generated in other sectors along the supply chain. Food waste from the manufacturing sector includes foods unsuitable consumption or processing, for example, unsafe products or product returns, and process wastes, for example, waste arising during processing and cleaning and some animal tissues issues. Many companies are implementing initiatives to reduce food waste according to the food waste hierarchy. These include rigorous supply chain management to minimise surplus, clear date markings to reduce household waste and redistributing surplus food through organisations like FoodCloud. Additionally, inedible food waste is processed into pet food and food waste is converted into bioenergy via anaerobic digestion. While Ireland has few digesters at present, the sector has growth potential, if the right policies are put in place. FDI has worked with the Environmental Protection Agency to share the food waste charter with industry and an increasing number of our members are signing up to the EPA's food waste charter.

Packaging is also essential to bring many foods and beverages to our tables. It has a number of important functions, two of the most important being to ensure food safety and to reduce food waste. Food and beverage packaging plays a key role in protecting and preserving the product. Modern packaging plays a central role in maintaining product integrity during manufacturing, handling and distribution from the factory to the consumer's table. Food labels on packaging provide important health and safety information, such as allergen declarations, along with instructions for the safe storage and preparation of products. Companies recognise the need to minimise the environmental impact of their packaging while maintaining food safety for consumers. FDI members are actively working on initiatives such as phasing out hard-to-recycle materials, reducing complex packaging combinations in favour of simpler single material formats and developing packaging that promotes reuse or higher recycling rates, such as polyethylene terephthalate, PET. They are also setting ambitious targets in creating markets for food-grade recycling content, investing significantly to achieve these goals.

Government policy should support these efforts by providing more resources for recycling infrastructure, continuing to work with the waste sector to encourage investment in circular economy technologies and supporting the development of closed-loop recycling processes, particularly for food-grade materials. Additionally, a harmonised, science-based approach across Ireland and the EU should be encouraged and the role of packaging in ensuring food safety must be prioritised.

The rate and complexity of packaging legislation coming from the EU in recent years have been challenging for industry. The single-use plastics directive, in particular, had wide-ranging impacts for our industry. While we share the goals to reduce marine litter, the implementation timelines have been difficult to achieve, in particular due to delays in secondary legislation and vital implementing guidance from the European Commission. Companies need time to adapt their supply chains to any new rules and to assess the possible impacts on everything from safety and shelf life to the cost of production. Now the packaging and packaging waste regulation is near finalisation, introducing new rules and targets before there has been adequate opportunity for reflection and analysis of the efficacy of the single-use plastics directive.

Food production is a highly regulated sector, with extensive rules in place to ensure that consumers' health is protected. This is a constantly evolving landscape that is and must continue to be driven by the latest scientific evidence. Part of this evolution must be the continued focus on ensuring that food safety is maintained within the context of environmental regulatory developments. Equipment used within manufacturing processes and packaging used to protect, store and transport food are all examples of food contact materials. There are existing regulatory frameworks for food contact materials that need to be considered in tandem with any development of packaging legislation. Additionally, the unique role of packaging intended for use within the food sector must be recognised and protected, and adequate safeguarding measures should be implemented to ensure that its availability is maintained.

In order to assist the industry in meeting myriad evolving regulations, there should be a clear line of sight on the roles the relevant Departments and agencies play in the governance of this legislation.

Food Drink Ireland has a Skillnet, which works with companies in the food and drink sector to address skills gaps and access government funding to develop and deliver industry-specific learning programmes. In recent years, courses such as our master's in sustainable food systems, done in conjunction with Atlantic Technological University, and our certificate in sustainable food packaging have clearly supported the move towards a circular economy and have been very much in demand across the industry.

The food and drink sector is committed to contributing to the creation of a circular economy. This transition represents a major change in how society and economy operate, but the industry is facing the challenge head-on, with high levels of investment and innovation. The Government has an important role to play in supporting the changes that are needed. In particular, we call on the Government to provide financing to incentivise investment in carbon abatement measures, more sustainable packaging solutions and green transport initiatives; provide more supports for continuing development of recycling infrastructure; provide supports and incentives to scale up the bioeconomy; continue public sector investment in industry-led applied and fundamental research; ensure a taxation environment which encourages investment in innovation; and ensure that appropriate focus is maintained on food safety within the context of sustainability developments and innovations.

I thank members again for the opportunity to address the committee.