The rendering industry tries to inform the public about their work. “But I find that sometimes even the regulators don’t really understand what’s happening in rendering and how we get to the end product,” says Jane Brindle. “And some groups don’t appreciate that we’re actually manufacturing a product. They think we’re just disposing of it and it doesn’t matter what we do with it. They treat it as if it’s a waste product that comes out of the abattoir. It’s actually a very valuable raw material that goes into a wide range of finished products.”
Leo Group factories alone process approximately one million tonnes of animal by-products annually. Their plants in the UK, Belgium and South Africa produce about 130,000 tonnes of protein meal and 70 million litres of purified oils every year.
Put simply, rendering is like pressure cooking, Jane says: “We have a huge cooker that’s set to a specific temperature and pressure because the temperature has to kill any likelihood of microorganisms like salmonella and E. coli to make it safe.” The end products are essentially fats and protein meal. The latter can be used as raw material for pet food; a lot of the animal fats are used for cosmetics, animal food, detergent and pet food, but – at least at the moment – mostly for the production of biodiesel.
For fallen livestock, controls are even tighter, but the end products still have a use as alternative fuels, for boilers, cement works, power stations and the fats specifically for biodiesel production.
When she started out in the industry some 12 years ago, Jane Brindle was very often the only woman at meetings. Today, however, there are quite a few women working in the industry, especially on the technical regulatory side. Production, on the other hand, tends to be dominated by men. “It used to be the production people and directors who came to the FABRA meetings; now there are more people doing the actual technical work. Which makes sense too, because most of the problems we face are related to legislation.”
Nevertheless, she had to prove herself initially. “I’ve always been a bit of a quiet person, so I’m not one to take over meetings. But when I do say something, I make sure it’s useful and sensible,” she says. “And I think over the years, because I’ve participated with useful information, people forget about the male-female thing after a while. It’s not whether you’re new or whether you’re a woman, it’s actually what you know and what you can contribute that’s important.”
About Jane Brindle:
Jane Brindle has a degree in Microbiology and Virology with Environmental Science from the University of Warwick. She worked in laboratories conducting research on agricultural chemicals before she started in the food industry. Since 2011 she has worked in the rendering industry as Technical Advisor for the Leo Group. She is the first female chair of FABRA UK (Foodchain and Biomass Renewables Association). Jane lives in Lancashire with her husband.