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| Waste management |
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| The process of slaughtering, and the further cutting for beef, lamb and pork also generates a secondary supply chain of both edible and inedible by-products and waste (for cattle and sheep this equates to roughly 50% of the weight of the live animal and for pigs 30%). The efficient operation of this secondary chain of ‘meat sector service companies’ is crucial to the operation of the primary supply chain. |
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| Meat sector service companies |
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| These companies collect and dispose of the large quantity of material that is the by-product of the meat production process. Some of this is edible and typically consists of: |
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Edible offal for human consumption – e.g. liver, hearts, tripe, runners (sausage casings), kidneys.
Some abattoirs/cutting plants take part in a specialist trade for certain glands, other specialist offals and high quality fats. However, the cost of collection can be high.
Edible offal for animal consumption (pet food) – can include meat trimmings and some/all of the edible offals described above, plus others not normally used for human consumption today e.g. lungs, stomach runners/gut etc. |
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| Waste from abattoirs also includes the inedible parts of the animal. Since the onset of BSE certain categories of cattle and sheep by-products are designated as Specified Risk Material (SRM) and the collection and disposal of these items is strictly controlled. |
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| Rendering |
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| The majority of this waste is collected by companies involved in rendering the waste materials into bone meal, fats and tallow. Prior to the BSE crisis of 1996, much of the product produced from this waste had a commercial value. Today much of it has to be disposed of as a waste product with no commercial value. The rendering process involves: |
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The crushing and grinding of animal by-products, followed by heat treatment to reduce the moisture content and kill micro-organisms. Separation of the melted fat (tallow) from the solid (bone and protein) is achieved through spinning or pressing.
The solid fraction is then ground into a powder, to become meat and bone meal (MBM). MBM is currently disposed of by land fill or incineration. |
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| The oil (tallow) resulting from the rendering process is used in a wide range of industries depending on its quality and grade. The best quality fats, from carcases that have been passed fit for human consumption, is rendered separately and can be used in human food, animal and pet food, and soap manufacture. Low grade tallow is used mainly by the oleo chemical industry for technical production such as paint and tyre manufacture. It can also be burnt as a fuel oil if plants are equipped with the required emission cleaning equipment. |
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| Other waste and by-products |
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| Other key elements of meat industry waste and by products are: |
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Trade effluent – the mix of water, blood (drip only), fats, faeces and urine from an abattoir, or wash down water from a cutting plant. Depending on the circumstances this may be disposed of through the municipal sewer or it can be collected in holding tanks and disposed of in approved offsite facilities.
Blood - this has to be collected and undergo an approved treatment process. These approved processes currently include heat treatment or ultra filtration. Pig blood can have a value if collected hygienically and processed in an approved way.
Hides and skins – all are usually sorted and salted or chilled by the abattoirs and collected by specialist hide and skin merchants for processing by specialist tannery companies. |
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For more information:
Services, publications and websites
Processing the beef carcase
Processing the pig carcase
Processing the sheep carcase
British Leather Confederation
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