Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon is launching the "first of its kind" National Biorefinery Pilot Plant and bioeconomy initiative in Co. Tipperary.

This marks a "significant milestone" for Ireland's bioeconomy, creating added-value and sustainable solutions from biological resources.

The pilot plant is being opened today (Thursday, June 25) at the National Bioeconomy Campus is located in Lisheen, Co. Tipperary.

'Landmark day'

Minister Heydon said: "Today is a landmark day for the Irish bioeconomy with the launch of the €5 million BioScaleUp initiative and the opening of the €4.7 million pilot plant.

"These facilities will help take agricultural, food, forestry and other bio-based side streams, often seen as waste and turns them into new valuable products for sectors as diverse as food ingredients, bio-packaging and bioenergy.

"The infrastructure being funded here by government and the EU gives researchers, SMEs and industry access to the equipment and expertise they need to test, validate and scale new bio-based products and processes.

The National Biorefinery Pilot Plant is supported by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment through the Regional Enterprise Development Fund administered by Enterprise Ireland.

It provides dedicated open-access pilot-scale infrastructure to help researchers, start-ups, SMEs and established companies test, validate and scale bio-based products and innovative processes moving bio-based innovation from laboratory scale towards commercial deployment.

Biomass resources

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) said that substantial biomass resources exist across Ireland's land, sea, and organic waste systems.

This includes approximately 49 million tonnes of solid biomass feedstocks on a dry matter basis and around 58 billion cubic metres of liquid bio-based feedstocks.

Used sustainably, these resources can support new value chains, new enterprise opportunities and reduce reliance on fossil-derived materials, according to DAFM.

Bioeconomy

The BioScaleUp Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative is co-funded through the government and the EU through the EU Just Transition Fund.

It will demonstrate and scale six innovative bio-based technologies at the National Biorefinery Pilot Plant, showing how renewable biological resources, residues and side streams can be converted into higher value products.

These will include food and feed ingredients, proteins and bio-active compounds, natural colours, aromas and flavours, peptides, amino acid ingredients, green chemical inputs for bio-plastics and textiles, biomaterials, biomethane and other renewable energy applications.

Research

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Noel Grealish said that research, development and innovation are "central to building a competitive and sustainable bioeconomy".

"The technologies demonstrated through BioScaleUp can help turn agricultural, food, forestry, marine and other side streams into bio-based ingredients, materials, chemicals and energy applications with real market potential," he said.

"This investment will build on over €40 million that my department has invested in bioeconomy research and will support stronger links between research and enterprise and help Irish innovators move closer to commercial deployment."

Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council, John Carroll said the launch shows that rural Ireland "can lead in addressing global challenges, from climate action to resource efficiency, while creating economic opportunities in our communities".

The launch forms part of a wider programme of bioeconomy events in 2026, leading towards Bioeconomy Ireland Week 2026.