As we all know, the rise in population has increased the demand for sustainable ingredients such as food, feed, and fuels. This has long been the growing concern of people across the globe; however, the individual contributions toward sustaining our natural resources were relatively small to this end.
Today, the rendering process has proven to be the most effective in protecting our environment and reducing the demand on natural resources through the recycling of perishable by-products generated by animal products throughout the world.
Founded in 1882, Darling Ingredients is regarded as the global leader in the rendering industry, and has evolved through different stages to become what it is today. However, what makes Darling Ingredients the go-to brand across the globe is its commitment to creating sustainable food, feed, and fuel ingredient solutions from materials that much of the world views as unusable.
Randall C. Stuewe, CEO of Darling Ingredients, says “Darling Ingredients is not a new company, nor is it the only rendering company in the world, but our ongoing history of developing innovative uses for meat by-products has enabled us to grow into the global leader in the industry.” Traditionally, waste fats and oils were first used to produce soaps, candles and fertilizer, and later as an ingredient for animal field rations. Over the years, others have entered the industry and helped it become a critical partner for meat processors and others in the food industry, throughout the world. Because of Darling’s experience and expertise in the field, they have often pioneered this challenge of finding efficient and alternative uses for animal fats, used cooking oils and other edible and inedible animal by-products. Most recently, they have developed solutions that could be used as an energy source to meet the growing demand for biofuels and bioenergy.
Providing Green Energy Services
In the 1990’s, the company pioneered the use of animal fats and used cooking oils as biofuel, constructing the first commercial plant in the U.S. to produce biodiesel from these materials. In 2005, they began operations at the first commercial fats-to-biodiesel plant in Canada, as well. But, their energy efforts go beyond biofuel.Stuewe explained, “In the Netherlands, where pig farming is a large piece of their economy and culture, we collect the excess manure and process it into bio-phosphates for fertilizer; additionally, our production process generates green gas and green electricity for local homes and businesses.”
2013 saw Darling Ingredients enter the green energy sector in a big way. Partnering with Valero Energy Corporation, Darling completed construction and launched Diamond Green Diesel (DGD) — an 18,000 barrel-per-day refinery located outside of New Orleans that processes animal fats, used cooking oil, and inedible corn oil into renewable diesel.
A joint venture of Darling Ingredients and Valero Energy Corporation, Diamond Green Diesel is an advanced diesel refinery that produces a green diesel fuel that is virtually identical to petroleum-based diesel, yet, like Darling’s biodiesel, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 85%. Because of its similarity to traditional diesel, DGD’s renewable diesel offers some distinct advantages over biodiesel – it doesn’t suffer from cold-flow issues so it can be used in winter climates, its higher cetane rating yields better performance, and it can be dropped into the diesel pipeline for efficient distribution through Valero’s distribution channels. Today, DGD is the largest North American producer of renewable diesel from animal fats and cooking oils, using approximately 15% of the country’s animal fats and used cooking oils to produce 275 million gallons of renewable diesel a year. Stuewe adds, “This technology is proven and the demand for low carbon fuel is strong and growing. Last year we completed a Phase 2 expansion that doubled production to 275 million gallons annually, and we just began a Phase 3 expansion to construct a sister plant alongside DGD to increase production to 675 million gallons per year in 2021.”
Why Rendering?
As a leading player in the rendering industry, Darling Ingredients focuses on fully recovering and utilizing bio-nutrients from meat by-products in safe, sustainable and innovative ways. “During the rendering process, high heat is used to separate fat from bone which also evaporates the approximate 60% water make-up of the meat-based material. The fats are processed into tallow, fats and oils and the solids into proteins, blood and bone meals, gelatin and collagen peptides. These are sold to manufacturers in the food, animal feed, pet food, fertilizer, pharmaceutical, biofuel and oleochemical industries. Even the water is reused. “We are able to capture the evaporate during rendering, clean it and either reuse it at our facilities (cleaning trucks and dump areas, for instance) or return it to municipal wastewater facilities for further treatment. Each year we return more water than we consume,” explains Stuewe.
Rendering has long been the silent industry no one spoke about; but without its presence, the world would quickly notice. If there were no renderers, the waste meat by-products would fill all available landfill space in four years. Without rendering, the material would be buried, incinerated or composted, all of which can have harmful effects on the environment. Decomposition of carbon-based animals could emit dangerous methane and nitrous oxide if not properly managed; composting the material can attract pests and rodents which could spread pathogens and disease. These alternate methods that dispose of the material give no regard to its ‘best use’, while rendering recovers its value and gives it a second life, while protecting the health of people, animals and planet.
Stuewe claims, “Without our products, society would need to find replacements that would likely come from unsustainable sources requiring new acreage to grow crops, additional water and nourishment, and would likely generate their own unusable residual materials.” Today, with its diverse portfolio of products and services, the company has become the world’s leading producer and manufacturer of sustainable organic ingredients. With operations in 13 countries on five continents, Darling competes to retain their leadership role by following a planned and systematic management approach.
Darling Ingredients Today
Darling Ingredients steers its operation around 16 entrepreneurial-minded brands that excel in their own line of business, which include: gelatin production, collagen peptides, high-protein animal feed and pet food ingredients, organic fertilizer, biofuels, and specialized services to the food industry. This diversification allows each brand to focus on their customer’s needs and requirements, and in turn support the company in its research and product development, global logistics and operational platform. Stuewe elaborates, “By structuring our Company’s public-facing operations around these individual brands, they are able to provide the professional and expert level of service their customers demand and help drive the develop the product innovations upon which our company has been built.”
Embracing the Future
Going forward, Stuewe said, “We intend to continue its journey as a global leader in the industry .Our employees are our strongest asset; their enthusiasm and spirit are what have driven us to where we are today and what will take us to tomorrow.” The future is looking green for Darling, and for the world.”
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Without our products, society would need to find replacements that would likely come from unsustainable sources requiring new acreage to grow crops, additional water and nourishment, and would likely generate their own unusable residual materials.
