What are the three categories?
Category 1 (high risk):
- Specified Risk Material (SRM) linked with transmission of TSEs (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies), this includes the spinal chord and brain.
- Fallen stock with SRM
- International catering waste
- Anything handled with Category 1
Category 2:
- Material not fit for human consumption and posing a risk to animals and humans
- Fallen stock without SRM
CATEGORY 3:
- Fit for human consumption at the point of slaughter
- Domestic catering waste
All processing is done on segregated lines to prevent contamination between different categories of waste and between different species.
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 are by-products processed?
Rendering 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.
A key step is removing water. From 18 million tonnes of material taken in by EFPRA members, only around 6 million tonnes of material are produced, the rest is lost as water which is treated for safe return into the environment. From the process two main products are produced, fat (known as tallow) and protein.
Edible by-products
Many EFPRA members also produce edible products – particularly fat and also greaves – the raw material for these products is separated at the abattoir and is always managed as food rather than category three by-product. Find out more on the edible fats page »
