Top Ten Facts About the Rendering Industry

  • 1. Rendering is Recycling – Rendering is the cooking and drying of meat and/or animal by-products, not typically used for human consumption, in order to recover fats and proteins.
  • 2. The U.S. rendering industry accounts for $10 billion in annual economic activity across the country.
  • 3. The Surprise Contributions of Rendering – People use rendered products every day in soaps, paints, varnishes, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, shaving cream, deodorant, crayons, leather (handbags, car seats, furniture), lubricants, caulking compounds, candles, cleaners, paints, perfumes, polishes, rubber products, plastics, fertilizers and even explosives. Many people just don’t realize it.
  • 4.  Good for Animal Health – Rendering produces valuable fats and proteins that improve nutrition in foods used by consumers and farmers to feed their pets, as well as livestock, poultry and fish.
  • 5. Recycling From Restaurants – Renderers pick up the nation’s used restaurant cooking oils to clean and recycle them into ingredients for animal feed, biodiesel and renewable diesel for cars, trucks, airplanes and other equipment.
  • 6.  Rendering is Sustainable – Recycling of animal by-products sequesters at least five times as many greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as it emits. Rendering yields far fewer emissions than landfilling or composting alternatives. Rendered products help animal agriculture and other customers reduce their environmental footprints and become more sustainable. All U.S. landfills would be full in four years without rendering, posing a serious public health threat.
  • 7.  Clean and Safe – High cooking temperatures used in rendering assure animal food and consumer protections against bacteria, viruses and other safety hazards. Meeting customer needs for quality and safety is a high priority.
  • 8.  Consumers Have Confidence – Renderers comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. They conduct hazard analyses, control food safety hazards, and use good manufacturing practices in their Rendering Code of Practice stewardship program. This Code of Practice fully complies with FDA’s animal food safety rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
  • 9.  Volume In, Quality Out – Rendering is a high-volume, high-tech industry. U.S. renderers collect 56 billion pounds of raw materials a year. Renderers recycle raw materials by cooking and drying these products into 11 billion pounds each of fats/oils and proteins each year.
  • 10.  Skilled Workforce – Rendering plants have extensively trained workers who use high-tech controls to operate ultra-hot temperature cookers, centrifuges and presses. Renderers have a high labor retention rate.