Defra, UK - Farming - Livestock

Farming: Livestock by-products

Animal by-products

Animal by-products (ABPs) are animal carcases, parts of carcases or products of animal origin that are not intended for human consumption. This includes catering waste, used cooking oil, former foodstuffs, butcher and slaughterhouse waste, blood, feathers, wool, hides and skins, fallen stock, pet animals, zoo and circus animals, hunt trophies, manure, ova, embryos and semen.

The handling, collection, storage, processing, use and disposal of animal by-products is covered by:

the Animal By-Products Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002; and
In England: the Animal By-Products Regulations 2005
In Scotland: the Animal By-Products (Scotland) Regulations 2003
In Northern Ireland: the Animal By-Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003
In Wales: the Animal By-Products (Wales) Regulations 2006

For a summary of the key requirements for different ABPs see Defra’s question and answer page.

Most butchers and slaughterhouses, for example, must dispose of animal by-products through rendering or incinerating. Other ABPs, such as catering waste and former foodstuffs may be disposed of through landfill, composting and biogas generation.

To locate an approved incinerator or renderer contact your Animal Health Divisional Office, see our list of approved processing (rendering) plants, or contact the UK Renderers' Association.

See the Guidance Note on Animal By-Products and Catering Waste for more information.

If you produce or handle waste, or are broker with control of such waste you must also comply with the Duty of Care leaflet. (PDF 220 KB)

Catering waste

Catering waste containing meat or products of animal origin can be disposed of in landfill, providing ruminant animals, pigs or poultry do not gain access to it. It can also be disposed of through the normal incinerating and rendering routes, but CANNOT be fed to farm animals.

Former foodstuffs

Former foodstuffs of animal origin, such as out-of-date produce, must be incinerated, rendered or used in pet food, among other, niche outlets, including composting and biogas plants. Some foods can currently be disposed of at approved landfill sites, providing they have been heat-treated resulting in a physical change.

A guidance leaflet Think before you Bin! covers the disposal of former foodstuffs from retail premises, including what food can or cannot be disposed of in landfill.

Think before you Bin! (PDF 600 KB)

Defra also provides a series of separate guidance for:

For further details on ABP premises, including application and inspection forms for ABP premises and lists of approved ABP premises, see Animal by-products premises section of the Defra website.

Fallen stock

Fallen stock can no longer be buried or burnt in the open because of the risk of disease spread through groundwater or air pollution. Instead, animals must be taken to/ collected by an approved knacker, hunt kennel, incinerator or renderer, either by private arrangement, or under the National Fallen Stock Scheme.

To locate an approved knacker, hunt kennel, incinerator or renderer contact your Animal Health Divisional Office. For further detail on disposal of fallen stock see Defra’s fallen stock questions and answers page.

Hides and skins

Hides and skins from animals (except wild animals) are also controlled under the Animal By-Products Regulation (ABPR). Further information, in particular regarding storage at slaughterhouses and on-farm salting can be found in the Hides and skins pages of the defra website.