Animal By Products

Main provisions

1. The Regulation applies controls to the processing and disposal, placing on the market and

import from third countries of animal by-products and processed animal by-products. It controls

the following animal by-products-

• animal carcasses, parts of animal carcasses (including blood) and products of animal origin

which are not intended for human consumption;

• manure and gut contents;

• ova, embryos and semen which are not intended for breeding purposes; and

• catering waste containing meat or products of animal origin and which is intended for

feeding to livestock, use in a biogas or composting plant or which comes from

international transport.

Categorisation

2. Animal by-products are divided into three categories

(i) Category 1 is high-risk material and must be completely destroyed. It includes the carcasses of

animals suspected or confirmed as having a TSE, the carcasses of zoo and pet animals,

Specified Risk Material and catering waste from means of international transport.

The permitted disposal routes are -

• incineration;

• rendering followed by incineration;

• rendering to the pressure cooking standard (133°C and 3 bar pressure) followed by

landfill; and

• for catering waste from means of international transport, landfill.

(ii) Category 2 is also high-risk material (e.g. diseased animals, animals which die on farm and

which do not contain SRM at the point of disposal). The disposal routes are -

• incineration;

• rendering followed by incineration;

• rendering to the pressure cooking standard (133°C and 3 bar pressure) followed by

disposal to landfill, use as a fertiliser or treatment in a biogas or composting plant;

• for fish, ensiling or composting in accordance with rules which have yet to be established;

and

• for rendered fats, use in an oleo chemical plant to produce tallow derivatives for technical use only.

NB Burial, open burning, composting and bio digestion are not permitted disposal routes for fallen stock. 

  (iii) Category 3 is essentially material which is fit for human consumption. The disposal routes are

• incinerati on;

• rendering followed by incineration or landfill  

• use in a petfood plant;

• use in a technical plant;

• treatment in a biogas or composting plant;

• for fish, ensiling or composting in accordance with rules which have yet to be established;

• for rendered fats, use in an oleochemical plant to produce tallow derivatives.

• rendering followed by use in feed stuffs or fertiliser (subject to the ban on feeding catering waste containing meat etc. to livestock and the restriction in the TSE Regulations on the use of processed animal protein in feeding stuffs)

3. There is provision for the Commission to propose, following advice from the EU Scientific Steering Committee, rules for the ensiling or composting of fish waste for Category 2 and 3 fish waste and rules for novel methods of treatment or disposal. Until those methods have been proposed and agreed, they may not be used to treat or dispose of any animal by-products. The exception is the use of ensiling as a treatment (method 6) for Category 3 fish waste in an approved rendering plant.

Back