Parish on Commission proposals to end 'crazy' ban on one of the most sustainable fuels
Posted, June 25, 2008 @ 15:00
Conservative MEP, Neil Parish today welcomed proposals from the European Commission to formally allow the use of tallow as a fuel. Currently, there is complete confusion as to whether or not tallow can legally be burnt as a boiler fuel in rendering plants and the decision to revise the Animal By-Products Regulation (ABPR) will finally allow animal by-products to be used as a fuel.
The confusion came because the ABPR has been interpreted by most member states as allowing the burning of tallow in rendering plant boilers without the need to comply with the Waste Incineration Directive(WID), which categorises animal by products as a waste product which can't be burned. The European Commission has now proposed to sort out the mess by revising the ABPR so that animal by-products can be used as a fuel and will not therefore have to comply with the WID.
Mr Parish, who is Chairman of the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee said:
"This is great news, for years I have been saying that it is crazy that on one hand the Commission tries to promote sustainable fuels and on the other hand it effectively bans one of the most sustainable fuels we have. Finally it seems that sense has prevailed and our renderers will be able to burn tallow knowing they are not breaching any EU laws.
" With fuel prices so high and with no alternative to tallow than fossil fuels, this announcement is a victory for common sense, a victory for the environment and a victory for the rendering industry who will be able to keep their fuel costs down"