The overall tonnage of meat and bonemeal (MBM) produced in Ireland has reduced on a yearly basis since 2020, figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has shown.
Meat and bonemeal (MBM) is a high-risk (category 1) by-product of the meat industry that is derived from specified risk material (SRM).
SRM includes the parts of cattle, sheep and goats that are linked to the spread of dangerous transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), including mad cow disease.
There has been 28,379.56t of MBM produced in Ireland in 2024 to-date, but the annual totals have been in decline in recent years.
Over 49,000t of MBM was produced in 2023, which is a reduction of more than 11,700t when compared to 2020.
Year Figure in tonnes 2019 59,354.35 2020 60,750.64 2021 57,323.02 2022 50,155.82 2023 49,009.93 2024 to-date 28,379.56
The vast majority of the MBM, over 95%, is exported to the UK for incineration, with the remaining amounts either traded to other European Union (EU) member states or used in Ireland by the cement industry, the DAFM stated.
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 secured agreement in principle for a further extension of that derogation until the end of June 2025.
The DAFM has stated: “To protect farm incomes and the meat industry, it is essential that MBM is disposed of safely. In this light, most of the 60,000 tonnes of MBM that Ireland produces annually is exported to Great Britain for incineration.”
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.