CircBio at CABR’s Researchers and Their Involvement in Bio-Based Innovations

Dr Theresa Rubhara, a researcher with the CircBio research group at Centre for Applied Bioscience Research (CABR), has been involved in developing the Enable-BIO project. The Enable-BIO project is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in collaboration with UCD. It aims to remove regulatory barriers in the bioeconomy and provide a roadmap for creating an enabling environment for innovations in agrifood waste bio-based value chains. 

This research will help policy makers develop a coherent regulatory framework through:

• An inventory of the current waste management regulatory framework
• International best practices which can be adopted in the Irish context using evidence from case studies.
• GAP analysis of the regulatory barriers/enablers and recommend actions on how regulation can be adapted to new and innovative technologies that can use by-products and waste.
• Engage with stakeholders in bio-based industries on the development of an enabling environment for the utilization of agri-food waste for bio-based Innovations.
• Scalability from small-scale research (1 L) to large-scale production (3,300 L).
• Enhanced biofunctional pigment production using specific LED lighting technology.
• Efficient biomass harvesting with flocculation, continuous-flow centrifugation, and simple filtration methods.
• Producing biomass suitable for isolating cosmetic ingredients, preparing aqua/animal feed, and developing food supplements.

Expected Outcomes: 

• Enable- BIO will bring together policy makers, businesses and other key stakeholders towards development of ideal regulations for the bioeconomy. 
• The proposed framework would foster collaborations, synergies and mutual understanding between different stakeholders in agrifood waste streams. 
• To bring clarity to the bioeconomy regulations, a knowledge transfer workshop will be held to launch the Policy Brief, the EPA research report on regulatory barriers and enablers in agri-food waste bio-based innovations, and the proposed guidelines for the regulatory framework from the systems design thinking workshop. 

Read more about Enable-BIO here.