A new financing initiative by the European Investment Bank (EIB), which will see €400m in loans being made available for agri co-operatives to support activities in the rapidly emerging bioeconomy sector across Europe, has been welcomed by the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS).

The bioeconomy sector includes the production and the processing of food, material and energy using renewable biological resources from the land and sea.

The initiative is expected to enable and support projects with an investment value of close to €1bn, where loan amounts for individual projects will range between €7.5m and €50m. It will also enable direct lending for private sector investments.

James O’Donnell, chair of the ICOS rural business committee, said:

“Irish co-operatives are already integrating bioeconomy activities into their businesses, including the generation of energy for processing operations from biological sources, such as anaerobic digestors, biomass and others activities."

“Bioeconomy provides exciting new business opportunities for co-operatives, and will also enable the sector to meet challenges such as reducing food waste and climate emissions. "

“We would like to see these financial instruments further complemented with grants under the future CAP policy and through the EU research and innovation programme, to ensure SME co-operative businesses can also avail of these opportunities and amplify their potential."

“In particular, we believe that co-operatives can play a role in the provision of community-based bioeconomy services to be used by their farmer members for the generation of energy and waste removal,” said James O’Donnell.

The announcement also follows a meeting between ICOS and the head of the European Investment Bank’s Dublin Office, Cormac Murphy, on the provision of investment support for the co-operative sector.

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