02/03/2006 - The Environment
Agency has today confirmed that Castle Cement
can resume burning meat and bone meal (MBM)
as a substitute fuel at its Ribblesdale
site near Clitheroe, Lancashire. This follows
a six-month trial that took place from April
to October 2005. The Environment Agency
set a rigorous programme of environmental
monitoring during the trial, and reviewed
the results to make sure that using MBM
in Castle Cement’s kilns did not increase
the environmental impact of the cement-making
process.
Gill Stokes, the Environment Agency’s Acting
Area Manager, said: "We are satisfied
that burning MBM will not increase the environmental
impact of the site. MBM is already used
as a fuel in cement kilns in many European
countries including France, Germany, Belgium
and Switzerland. Burning MBM like this makes
good use of a waste that would otherwise
have to be disposed of, and also provides
a sustainable fuel as an alternative to
fossil fuels like coal.
"The strict conditions we have imposed
on Castle Cement’s use of MBM will protect
both the environment and the health of local
people."
MBM is produced in animal rendering plants,
which process at high temperatures the waste
meat and bones from abattoirs and butchers’
shops. MBM is the dry, granular substance
left at the end of this rendering and is
usually sent to landfill.
Using MBM as substitute fuel in cement
kilns is one way of reducing pressure on
scarce landfill space and cutting down on
our consumption of fossil fuels.
Castle Cement will have to keep to strict
environmental conditions when burning MBM
at Ribblesdale. The Environment Agency has
stated that MBM can only be used in the
one remaining kiln at Ribblesdale and that
MBM can supply no more than 50 per cent
of the heat the kiln needs. Other substitute
fuels, such as chipped tyres and Cemfuel,
can be used to provide the rest of the required
heat along with ordinary fossil fuels.
The kiln must also continue to comply with
the Environment Agency’s strict emissions
limits.
Strict controls in the food industry mean
that the MBM that Castle Cement will burn
cannot come from animals in which BSE is
suspected or confirmed. Neither can it include
any unprocessed animal products or any other
forms of agricultural, horticultural or
industrial waste.
Notes
Consultants for the Environment Agency
have studied the methods used to heat cement
kilns overseas. Meat and bone meal (MBM)
is used in many European countries, including
France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Austria,
Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
It now forms the largest proportion of solid
wastes used to heat cement kilns in Europe.
The European Union prohibits the re-use
of MBM as an animal feed or a fertiliser.
From 1996 until November 2005, cattle aged
over 30 months were banned from entering
the food chain in the UK to reduce the risk
of BSE. In November 2005, BSE testing of
older animals was introduced, so cattle
over the age of 30 months can only enter
the food chain if they test negative for
BSE. Castle Cement can only use MBM from
cattle under the age of 30 months, or cattle
over the age of 30 months who have tested
negative for BSE, in their kilns.
The rendering plant that supplies Castle
Cement’s MBM only processes waste from BSE-free
animals.
During last year’s trials, Castle Cement
burned 12,400 tonnes of MBM, which would
otherwise have been landfilled, and saved
8,000 tonnes of fossil fuel.
Now that the Environment Agency has given
Castle Cement permission to resume burning
of MBM at Ribblesdale, it will be allowed
to burn over 90,000 tonnes a year.
The trial burning of MBM at Ribblesdale
was the first in a cement kiln in the UK,
but other cement works have since followed
suit.
