Animal by-products and food waste

If you have animal by-products (ABPs), you must send them to approved premises for treatment or disposal. Ideally, different categories of animal by-product should be handled at different sites.

Any operator that uses or disposes of ABPs or derived products must be registered before commencing operations. If you wish to register, read more about ABPs applications.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs (DAERA) maintains a list of premises and their operators in Northern Ireland who have been granted approval for the storage, processing, treatment or disposal of ABPs.

Disposal of category 1 material

You must dispose of category 1 material by:

• direct incineration
• rendering - followed by incineration or landfill

See guidance on incineration and rendering of animal by-products.

International catering waste may be disposed of at a landfill site authorised by the Divisional Veterinary Office.

Disposal of category 2 material

You must dispose of category 2 material by:

• direct incineration
• rendering or other authorised treatment process - followed by incineration, landfill, composting or biogas treatment

You can pressure-render category 2 material and then use it to produce organic fertilisers and soil improvers or use it in an approved composting or anaerobic digestion plant.

Find out more about composting and anaerobic digestion of animal by-products.

You may apply a very limited number of category 2 materials (manure, digestive tract content, milk and milk-based products and colostrum) directly to land without processing provided there is no risk of transmitting a disease.

Disposal of category 3 material

You must dispose of category 3 material by:

• incineration
• rendering - followed by incineration or landfill
• anaerobic digestion
• alkaline hydrolysis plant
• composting or biogas plant

You can render category 3 material to produce pet food and organic fertilisers or soil improvers. You can also use rendered category 3 material to produce animal feedingstuffs, though there are some restrictions in place.

Certain category 3 materials such as raw milk, colostrum and products derived from these can be applied directly to land provided there is no risk of transmitting a disease. Shells from shellfish and eggshells may be applied to land in accordance with national rules.

Detailed guidance on the use and disposal of animal by-products is available from DAERA.