Animal by-products and food waste

There are three categories of animal by-products (ABPs), depending on their potential risk to human and animal health. Different rules apply for disposing of waste in each category.

Category 1 animal by-products

Category 1 material presents the highest risk to human and animal health. Such material includes:

• animals or parts of animals considered specified risk material, ie most likely to harbour a disease - for example, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) such as scrapie in sheep, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle
• animals that have been experimented on
• zoo and pet animal carcasses
• wild animals suspected of having an infectious disease
• catering waste from international transport, ie aircraft and ships
• animal tissue collected when treating waste water from category 1 processing plants

Category 2 animal by-products

Category 2 materials are considered high risk. These include:

• animals that are slaughtered to prevent the spread of disease
• manure and digestive tract content
• animals and parts of animals which die by means other than slaughtering, eg fallen stock
• animal tissue collected when treating waste water from category 2 processing plants

Category 2 is also the default status of any ABP not defined by regulations as either category 1 or category 3 material.

Category 3 animal by-products

Category 3 materials are considered low risk. They include parts of animals that have been passed fit for human consumption in a slaughterhouse, but which are not intended for consumption.

Category 3 also includes products of animal origin, or foodstuffs containing products of animal origin which are no longer intended for human consumption for commercial reasons, or due to manufacturing or packaging defects or other defects that do not pose a risk to public or animal health.

Mixing different categories of animal by-products

You must keep all three categories of animal by-products separate at all times. If you mix material from one category with material from another category, you must treat the whole mixture as being in the higher risk category. For example, you must treat a mixture containing categories 1, 2 and 3 as a category 1 material.

Category 2 is also the default status of any ABP not defined by regulations as either category 1 or category 3 material.

Detailed guidance on animal by-products is available from the Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs (DAERA) .