Volume 9: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Part 2: Scotland
7. Setting the scene
The rendering industry

7.8 In 1988 the Scottish rendering industry, like that of the UK generally, was contracting as a result of overcapacity and a fall in the demand for tallow and meat and bone meal (MBM). In 1993 three firms accounted for most of the throughput. William Forrest & Sons Ltd was by far the largest of these, with 50 per cent of the market share in 1983, increasing to over 70 per cent by 1993. ¹ Most of the red meat waste processed in Scotland was also collected in Scotland, ² and there was very little cross-border trade with England in raw materials from slaughterhouses. However, William Forrest bought greaves from other parts of the United Kingdom and from the Republic of Ireland. Representatives of the company told the Inquiry that they believed the highest proportion of greaves bought by Forrests during this period was from Northern Ireland, but noted that the Northern Ireland greaves might have been blended with others from the Republic of Ireland before being sold to them. Forrests also bought greaves from brokers without knowing where they originated. ³

7.9 The relatively high proportion of MBM produced by reprocessing greaves bought in from other plants was a feature of the Scottish rendering industry. The bought-in greaves were often mixed with raw materials which then went through the full cooking process so that, in effect, some of the material was subjected to two heat treatments. This treatment was identified in 1991 as a possible explanation for the low incidence of BSE in Scottish cattle. ⁴

7.10 According to surveys conducted by Mr John Wilesmith of the Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL), the use of the solvent extraction process in the rendering industry declined very sharply in England and Wales in the four years after 1980, so that less than 20 per cent of MBM was produced using this method by 1984. ⁵ However, Scotland was still producing nearly 80 per cent of its MBM using solvent extraction during this time. ⁶ Forrests did not stop using solvent extraction until 1992. ⁷