Ballinasloe has been included in a new €10 million support measure for the bioeconomy, co-funded by the Government and the European Union.
The ‘Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative’ is part of the EU Just Transition Fund for Ireland and will support collaboration between stakeholders along the entire bio-based value chain.
This includes SMEs, universities, local authorities, clusters, primary producers, bioprocessing industries and consumer brands.
Making the announcement, Minister Charlie McConalogue said the bioeconomy has significant potential to improve the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the agri-food sector.
“It is now possible to replace products produced from fossil-resources with those produced by bio-resources from land and sea, including new biofertilisers and biopesticides, high protein food and feed, bio-based plastics and textiles, and much more besides,” he said.
“Utilising biomass, including biowastes, from agriculture, food production and processing in this circular way means we can extract more value from our agri-food system while simultaneously improving overall environmental and climate sustainability.”
