Environmental Impact

The Environmental Impact

The livestock and poultry industries of North America use state-of-the-art technology in genetics, feeding, husbandry and production practices, contributing to the continued substantial growth and efficiency of these industries. This translates into a per capita meat consumption that is among the highest in the world thanks to its abundance, relative cost, safety and recognized quality.

The North American rendering industry renders and recycles approximately 59 billion pounds of inedible animal by-products annually. The by-products’ sources vary from livestock and poultry carcasses plus offal, spent cooking fats and oils, fat trimmings, bones, other meat and poultry processed material considered unwholesome from slaughter and processing facilities, and waste material from supermarkets and restaurants.

This diversity of inedible animal by-products accounts for approximately 11 billion pounds of reclaimed animal fat annually. The use of rendered fat is a concentrated source of energy for animal and poultry feeds as well as a high quality feedstock for biodiesel. Undoubtedly, the rendering process provides the most logical and environmentally acceptable approach for recycling animals and inedible material into usable commodities.