Our members collect and reprocess 18 million tonnes of animal by-products(ABPs) from the meat and livestock industry each year. They make ABPs safe, stable and suitable for reuse in a variety of applications. There are strict rules on collection, processing and reuse of ABPs.
Up to half of every animal produced for food is not suitable for human consumption so it is a by-product. Without proper management, meat and animal by products can become hazardous, rendering prevents this. The rendering industry is underpinned by strict veterinary principles to prevent the spread of animal disease and zoonoses, these include:
Prompt collection
Hazardous and potentially hazardous material from farms and slaughterhouses is collected promptly.
Full traceability
Safety is ensured along the entire reprocessing chain using a Hazard Critical Control Point (HACCP) approach.
Regulatory
Strict rules on processing and reuse. Europe has the highest regulatory standard worldwide.
Processing uses heat and pressure to sterilise and stabilise animal material. Sterilisation kills harmful microorganisms thus eliminating disease risk. Stabilising prevents any further decomposition of by-products and makes them suitable for storage and reprocessing for other uses.
The process – often called rendering which refers to the extraction of fat – produces three main products; water, protein and fat. Water is treated and returned to the environment. Protein and fat are used in a range of products including feed, fuel and fertilisers. The digram shows the main steps in the process (figures are approximate). Heat from reprocessing is usually captured and used for heating and energy production; see our Sustainability Case Studies for more information:
Which ABPs are processed?
All animal by-products from slaughterhouses and fallen stock that died on farm need treatment to make them safe, stable and suitable for reuse. Within Europe (EU & UK), ABPs are processed and reused in different ways depening on risk, there are three risk categories.
What are the three categories?
Category 1 (high risk)
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- Specified Risk Material (SRM) linked with transmission of TSEs (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies), this includes the spinal chord and brain.
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- Fallen stock with SRM.
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- International catering waste.
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- Anything handled with Category 1.
Category 2
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- Material not fit for human consumption and posing a risk to animals and humans.
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- Fallen stock without SRM.
Category 3
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- Fit for human consumption at the point of slaughter
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- From healthy slaughtered animals, not fit for human consumption but no risk to animals, humans and environment
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- Domestic catering waste
Did you know...
Did you know...
Many rendering sites run off carbon neutral resources
Did you know...
Did you know...
Animal by products provide enough phosphorus to fertilise 3 million football pitches
Did you know...
Did you know...
Biodiesel has 15% the greenhouse gas emissions of fossil diesel
How do we use by-products?
There are a range of uses for ABPs depending on the risk category and other factors. The diagram shows the main uses for ABPs.
Visit the Products pages for more information.