Bioeconomy in Action video series

The bioeconomy is transforming how we use our land and sea resources. Adopting a bioeconomy approach allows us to maximise the use of our crops, forests, fish, and ‘waste’ streams, to create food, bio-based materials, and bioenergy in a more sustainable and circular way.

Science, innovation, and collaboration are empowering greener solutions across our agriculture, energy, construction, and packaging sectors, and beyond.

From bio-based fertilisers to bioplastics and bioenergy, the bioeconomy offers real potential for climate action, economic growth, and rural development.

Watch the videos below to see how the bioeconomy creating new value chains for farmers and agri-food businesses, empowering communities, and offering sustainable choices to consumers.

Once a staple material in homes across Ireland, wool has been overtaken by synthetic alternatives—but the bioeconomy can offer solutions to change that.

Through innovation and collaboration, Irish-grown wool is making a comeback. The Department’s Wool Feasibility Study in 2022 identified exciting bioeconomy opportunities for this sustainable, natural fibre, leading to the creation of the Irish Grown Wool Council.

Now, innovators like Dooleys Wool are bringing wool back into our homes with locally sourced pillows, duvets and mattress toppers. Kilkenny farmer Brian Nicholson, Teagasc’s Environmentally Sustainable Sheep Farmer of the Year 2024, is one of the many local farmers supporting this new business by supplying high-quality Irish fleece.

To accelerate this movement, we’ve invested over €500,000 in the SpringWool project at Munster Technological University, which will accelerate bio-based research and innovation in Irish grown wool.

Irish wool can have a bright future in Ireland, underpinned by sustainability, farmers local businesses and bioeconomy principles.

Food waste is a global challenge—nearly 25% of all food produced is wasted, contributing to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Tackling food waste starts with prevention, but also includes re-use, recycling and recovery of nutrients as set out in Ireland’s Food Waste Prevention Roadmap.

BiaSol, a COVID-19 lockdown project, founded by siblings Niamh and Ruairi Dooley, is tackling the issue of food waste & sustainability head-on. Unlocking the principles of the bioeconomy, the company is transforming a brewing by-product—spent grain from Ballykilcavan Brewery - into nutritious, tasty ingredients for humans.

There are over 170,000 tonnes of spent grain produced in Ireland annually. Companies like BiaSol have demonstrated the opportunity in turning an overlooked ‘waste’ resource into a high-fibre, high-protein food. In doing so, it supports a healthier, more circular food system.

The Department is supporting a host of research where bioeconomy innovation, nutrition and sustainability come together to reduce waste and lower carbon emissions within Ireland’s agri-food sector.

Most everyday plastics are made from fossil fuels meaning they’re non-renewable, carbon-intensive, and long-lasting in the environment. Bio-based plastics are made from renewable materials and they can reduce emissions and plastic pollution, while supporting a circular bioeconomy.

SAMCO is a Limerick-based company demonstrating biobased innovation in the agri-food sector. The company manufactures biobased, biodegradable plastic films for use in crop cultivation, among other things. These films act like ‘mini-greenhouses’, enhancing germination and increasing crop yields—especially for crops like maize. While rows of white plastic may be a familiar sight in Irish fields each spring, most likely don’t realise that this film is made from resources such as grain starch and vegetable oils.

Ongoing research and innovation in Ireland and Europe, some of which is funded by the Department, is striving to make biobased plastics even more functional, circular, and socially acceptable.

This is the bioeconomy in action: supporting farmers with innovative solutions and boosting agricultural sustainability.