Semapa Group food recycling company to open €20 million factory

The Semapa Group food recycling company ETSA opened a factory today (Friday, September 19) that will transform food byproducts into high-value ingredients in an investment of over €20 million supported by investment from the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

According to the company, the project designated as ProHy, is based on a neutral hydrolase process without using chemicals that enable animal byproducts to be turned into high value ingredients such as hydrolised protein, fat and mineral fraction.

The first exports will be destined for the high-quality pet foods sector, aquaculture (fish feed) and veterinary pharmaceuticals, with Europe, the US and Asia identified as the main markets.

The new factory will start with 14 direct jobs, a number that will likely double in the medium term.

“The project will retain national talent and use advances skills, consolidating the role of the ETSA as a driver for territorial cohesion”, states a communiqué.

ETSA highlights that, unlike competing solutions based on enzymatic hydrolysis, ProHy “stands out for the intrinsic ability to microencapsulate ingredients”, which “opens the way to new applications” and places products “in a privileged position to respond to the demands of international markets, reinforcing the circular economy and sustainability”.