EU tests alternative method to dispose of BSE waste
Alkaline hydrolysis or tissue digestion works by breaking apart the chemical bonds that hold proteins together, reducing them to their basic components.
An entire carcass will be reduced to 3% of its original weight after a three-hour treatment in sodium hydroxide, steam heated to 150°C.
There is no burning, and the system is totally closed, meaning no emissions to air.
Resulting solids are landfilled and the non-toxic liquid can be treated in a variety of ways depending on scale. These include producing methane gas to produce clean electricity.
Dr Gordon Kaye, Chairman of WR2, a US company that has designed and implemented an environmentally friendly system to handle organic waste, said Ireland has a unique opportunity to properly plan and manage its animal waste crisis.
“With half a million tonnes of waste from the meat industry every year, it cost the Irish taxpayer 70 million in 2000 to render, store, export and destruct meat and bone meal - a totally unnecessary product since BSE regulations were put in force,” he said.
Dr Kaye said the Government's spending estimates showed that these costs are going to be pushed back on to the meat plants, which may ultimately impact cattle prices in particular and farm incomes.
Meat and bone meal is now a redundant product with no market, and the rendering industry is almost entirely subsidised. This is an economically and environmentally unsustainable situation
“Other European countries were forced to adopt incineration for animal waste, or to process it in cement plants without having time to evaluate other options.
“Our technology is now progressed to the point where for the first time there is a genuine alternative,” he said.
George Russell, WR Europe, said the company has had a high degree of interest from Irish regulatory authorities, environmental groups, meat plants and renderers.
“We are encouraged that Ireland may follow the lead of the United States Department of Agriculture in moving towards alkaline hydrolysis as the most reliable, environmentally friendly and cost effective method of choice to handle both current waste production and the immense stock pile of meat and bone meal with which the country is faced.
“We are very aware of Ireland's clean, green image abroad and the importance that plays in the tourism and food industries.
“It would be a terrible shame to risk that image by turning to incineration for meat and bone meal when there is another option,” he said.
Currently, alkaline hydrolysis is approved at EU level for dealing with non specified risk material or BSE positive material - the bulk of the volume to be handled.
It is undergoing an approval process with the EU Scientific Steering Committee to determine the regulations for handling the highest risk material.
World BSE expert Dr David Taylor, who visited Ireland last September, maintained that incineration has never been tested for its destruction of BSE infectivity.
Alkaline hydrolysis has, however, been subjected to - and passed - a battery of tests. In fact, it is the only scientifically proven method of dealing with BSE positive material.
