The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed to Agriland that a derogation allowing for the export of high-risk meat and bonemeal (MBM) to the UK has been extended to 2025.
Ireland currently exports the vast majority of the 60,000t of MBM produced in this country to plants in Britain for incineration.
The export of category 1 MBM to the UK and other third countries is not permitted by the EU, therefore the department has said that other outlets for the disposal of this material need to be established.
Derogation
Following Brexit, DAFM secured a derogation from the European Commission in 2020 which allowed for the continued export of MBM to Britain until the end of 2023.
The department said that it recently secured agreement in principle for a further extension of that derogation until the end of June 2025.
MBM is a high-risk (category 1) by-product of the meat industry that is derived from specified risk material.
It includes the parts of cattle, sheep and goats that are linked to the spread of dangerous transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), including mad cow disease.
DAFM noted that it is the responsibility of the animal rendering industry to dispose of this material.
According to EU regulations, the disposal options for MBM are incineration, landfill or combustion.
DAFM
In a statement to Agriland, the department said that it has been working closely with the rendering sector and wider industry to identify “on-island disposal options” for this material.
“To help facilitate the development of these alternative options, DAFM was at the forefront of the amendment to EU regulations to allow MBM be classified as a fuel or a waste for disposal purposes,” a DAFM spokesperson said.
The department said that using MBM as a renewable fuel will “assist decarbonisation and result in carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reductions”.
“It will support the circular economy by generating energy from a harmful agri by-product that would otherwise be exported,” DAFM added.
A scheme to facilitate the use of MBM as a renewable energy source is due to end on December 31, 2023.
As part of the scheme operators have been invited to put forward proposed projects for the disposal of MBM as a renewable energy source.
Capital funding will be available to assist successful operators, however, no payments have been made to date under the scheme.
“DAFM continues to work closely with all stakeholders to ensure that safe, sustainable disposal options for MBM are in place post June 2025,” the department spokesperson said.