The Cleaner Greener Production Programme (CGPP) was launched by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2001. Under the programme, the National Development Plan 2000-2006 has provided €3.7 million in grant aid, to encourage companies in Ireland, particularly SMEs, to adopt a high standard of environmental performance by adapting or improving production processes and services in order to minimise negative impact on the environment.

The aim is to encourage companies to apply innovative, integrated preventive environmental strategies to processes, products and services to increase overall efficiency and reduce the risks to humans and the environment.

Phase 1

Atlanfish was involved in two projects under phase 1 of the CGPP, the final reports can be downloaded below:

1. Treatment of shellfish wastewater by membrane filtration and recovery of proteins, salt and upgrading through product development - Download File (2.11mb)
2. Extracting edible crab meat from bodies and legs often considered waste - Download File (2.18mb)

Phase 2

Atlanfish is currently involved under phase 2 with the following project:

Moving Towards a More Sustainable Fish Industry

The project aims to study and monitor the consumption of natural resources and implement process improvements to reduce waste. The project also aims to train all staff on these new processes and on waste minimisation and energy reduction good practice. The project goals include the reduction in water usage by 25%, the reduction in energy (diesel & electricity) usage by 5% and the reduction in raw material (crab & mussels) wastage by 2%. The company plans to achieve these targets by employing best practice techniques used by other industries that at the moment are not commonly used within the fish industry.

As a result of this project the company hopes to reduce its environmental impact by reducing natural resource consumption and reducing the associated emissions. The reduction in wastage of raw materials also reduces the strain on locally over-fished waters and improves the sustainability of the industry. If targets are met the company could save up to €20,000 per year in water, energy and waste disposal costs, while the reduction in wastage of raw materials could boost sales by €165,000 per year.

Further information on the Cleaner Greener Production Programme can be found on the Clean Technology website here.