Neale Richmond
Ceist:1145. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has considered reusing food waste as animal feed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14589/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 22 March 2022
Ceisteanna (1145)
Freagraí scríofa
Surplus food is already an established and important source of product for inclusion in animal feed. A variety of products including bakery items, confectionery, fruit, vegetables and by-products from the brewing and distilling industries are used in feed production. In 2021, some 370,000 tonnes of surplus food was collected and used as feed materials in Ireland.
A number of initiatives have been put forward by the EU Commission in recent years to facilitate the use of food no longer intended for human consumption for animal feed and to specifically include products from the food manufacturing process (supplied by food producers) and food that has already been placed on the market. This included an amendment to the Waste Framework Directive to specifically exclude substances that are destined for use as feed materials from the scope of the Directive to ensure that such products would no longer be classified as a waste and could be used in feed.