Renderers Partner With Poultry and Meat Processors
US - Rendering companies are important partners with poultry and meat processors, according to Gerald Smith, Jr.
15 October 2009
3 minute read
Mr Smith, president of Valley Proteins in Winchester, Virginia, presented 'A CEO Perspective of the Importance of Rendering' at the 2009 Poultry Protein & Fat Seminar in Atlanta, Georgia. The annual conference is sponsored by US Poultry & Egg Association's Poultry Protein & Fat Council.
"Rendering creates value for products not consumed by humans," Mr Smith said. "It provides protein and calories for the next generation of growing, and it provides capital that processors can reinvest in their operations."
Mr Smith explained that a major challenge for renderers is caused by fluctuating market conditions, particularly the recent decline in tonnage.
He said: "Operating costs don't change. Also, BSE-related regulations have made some beef by-products nearly worthless. Other challenges include the forecast of only marginal growth in meat and poultry production in the United States, increasing environmental and food safety regulations, and trade issues created when other countries use product safety concerns as trade barriers.
"But biofuels have added significant value to fat product. And prices and tonnage should improve, even if at slower rates, as the economy improves."
Tommy Bagwell, president of American Proteins, Cumming, Georgia, described what he characterised as 'One Man's Journey in Environmental Stewardship'. He shared an early personal experience when he started working at the company founded by his father.
Mr Bagwell said: "My dad told me that my job would be odour control and water quality. Dad had been watering his garden with waste water from the plant, so we decided to irrigate with our waste water. I'm still proud that we had one of the first land application permits in Georgia. We also built an anaerobic lagoon where we recaptured gas.
"For air quality, we tried air scrubbers. But in the early days, we didn't find them very effective. So we went with biofilters, which worked well for us."
The seminar featured a two-part session on 'New Technology for Energy Savings'. Steve Heitert (Armstrong International) discussed the use of steam pumps for condensate return. Aspie Gowadia (Spirax Sarco) described high-pressure condensate return systems.
In other sessions on 'Energy Efficiency in Rendering Plants', Steve Phillips (HAARSLEV) and David Lilly (the Dupps Company) compared conventional cooking versus waste heat evaporators versus slurry evaporators. Roger Sorel (Electric Energy Conservation Company) and Joe Ribovich and Erin Weeks (Baldor Electric Company) discussed motor efficiency, and Bill Meffert (Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute) described energy efficiency tools available from the US Department of Energy.
