Mr. James Gaffey:

We thank the Chair and the committee for the opportunity to present. This is a joint statement from James Gaffey and Dr. Helena McMahon, directors of the circular bioeconomy research group at Munster Technological University.

The development of circular economy within the food sector is a growing trend, demonstrated by the growing number of food companies adopting circular solutions to create more sustainable value chains and bringing new products to market. This has been driven by a combination of innovation, technology commercialisation and enabling policies such as the EU circular economy action plan and Ireland's circular economy strategy and bioeconomy action plan.

Many consider the circular economy in food to be a food waste reduction strategy; however, that is a narrow view and only part of the story. The key message we want to convey today is that large-scale deployment of circular economy and, in particular, circular bioeconomy across Ireland's agrifood and marine sector has the potential to transform food supply chains, benefiting primary producers, businesses, consumers and communities. This can make a very significant contribution to achieving Ireland's 2050 targets and transition to a climate-neutral economy.

Primary producers who supply the raw materials for Ireland's food sector face significant environmental targets and the challenge of remaining profitable in a world competing for resources and markets. Through adoption of circular bioeconomy models, Ireland's primary producers can achieve more sustainable food production, including waste reduction and valorisation, nutrient recycling and renewable energy production, diversifying farm incomes and reducing imports and farm emissions.

In Ireland, this is exemplified through the Farm Zero C project, which is developing a climate-neutral dairy farm using circular and climate mitigation strategies, a model which, to date, can support a 36% reduction in farm emissions and savings of €18,000 per annum to an average Irish dairy farm. This approach can be scaled to dairy farms across Ireland, significantly supporting achievement of emissions targets.

Another area of enormous potential for upscaling the circular economy across the food sector is the deployment of biorefineries. These biomass processing facilities convert biomass and waste streams from all sectors of the food system - for example, grass, tillage, meat, marine and municipal waste - into innovative, high-value, sustainable, bio-based products with export potential. CircBio is pioneering this approach with Carbery farmers, BiOrbic and others and has demonstrated biorefinery technology on farms in Cork, converting grass and clover into cattle feed, protein for monogastrics, biomaterials, high-value ingredients and energy, increasing the value obtained from grass while reducing dependency on soy and energy imports. Other companies progressing this model include Tirlán, exploring conversion of dairy processing residues and waste into biodegradable plastic. Marine companies such as Brandon, BioAtlantis and Nutramara are using green chemistry and biotechnology to create biofertilisers, food, feed and cosmetic ingredients from seaweed. This provides a route to capture carbon, reduce NPK use, improve soil security and upscale the bio-based industries in Ireland.

The circular economy can also provide opportunities for new synergies to be developed between companies to share resources and close loops. For example, in Longford, St. Mel's brewery and Panelto Foods are collaborating on an industrial symbiosis model in which waste bread is used to create a new beer, while a new bread is produced using outputs from the new beer production process in a closed loop. BiaSol is producing functional ingredients from brewing waste in a B2B model and producing branded products. Kerry Group has strategically placed sustainable food systems as a core strategic pillar and is innovating across its portfolio towards a more circular bio-economy model across its supply chain.