Scientists and meat processors gathered to help meat industry cut waste
A special event that brought together scientist and meat processors from Wales have been staged last month by Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) in order to bring the latest technology to bear on increasing profitability and reducing environmental impact in the red meat industry.
The sector is already applying very good practice in minimising its inputs and environmental impact, but the advance of technology offers new ways in which by-products can be used.
The event was held in partnership with the IBERS-led BEACON Biorefining Centre of Excellence at Aberystwyth University and the attendants were pleased to hear about the way companies can extract valuable commodities that can be used in a wide variety of contexts, from renewable energy to pharmaceuticals.
"This workshop was extremely useful in bringing together academic researchers with businesses from the Welsh red meat supply chain.A key statistic is that a typical 650kg beef animal will produce 345kg of meat, so the challenge is how best to use the rest of the carcase, especially as the market for skins and hides is less profitable than it used to be.
Many of the processors shared interesting data on how they reduced waste and utilised by-products, and emerging anaerobic digestion technology is clearly an avenue to be looked at", explained HCC Supply Chain Development Executive Dr Eleri Price.
The speakers included world-leading experts on waste reduction and the extracting value from by-products, including applied biochemist Dr David Bryant, waste and manufacturing specialist Chris Morris, and anaerobic digestion expert Prof. Sandra Esteves.
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