New Uses For Livestock Products

Waste not, want not: Companies find uses for leftover animal parts
By Greg Latshaw, USA TODAY

A growing number of companies are turning their attention to creating renewable products — such as adhesives and plastics — from the animal parts that can't be sold on supermarket shelves.

From plastics made from feather protein to diesel fuel made from fat to organic fertilizer made from poultry litter, the USA's top meat producers are developing new uses and markets for the animal parts that humans won't eat, says Tom Cook, president of the National Renderers Association in Alexandria, Va.

For years, those parts have ended up in cosmetics, soap, pet food and animal feed. Now, meat companies are putting more resources into sustainability programs, says Paul Rutledge of the American Meat Institute's sustainability committee.

At Clemson University, such products are being tested at the South Carolina school's Animal Co-Products Research & Education Center, says center Director Annel Greene.

Greene says there are a number of uses for the leftover materials that have yet to be discovered. "It's fascinating to see everything that can be done," Greene says. Read More

Most people may not realize it, but we get so much more than just meat from our livestock. Virtually nothing is wasted and even more and better uses are being discovered. Livestock play an integral part in our lives. That’s why it is so reckless for people to advocate eliminating animal agriculture. The fail to account for all the things other than food that we need them for, especially things like life-saving medicines.