April 30, 2007

Australia launches environmental guidelines on red meat

The Australian red meat processing industry has introduced environmental guidelines through its official launch of the Environmental Best Practice strategies by Federal Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Peter McGauran.

The new guidelines are also endorsed by the peak industry body Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC) as well as Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), the Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC) and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).

The guidelines are composed of six independent but related modules for current environmental best-practice for meat processors and face issues covering odour and air quality, wastewater treatment and its irrigation to land, waste solids and energy management.

Meat and Livestock Australia spokesperson Dr Christine Pitt said the guidelines are not regulatory but instead take account of differences in processing scale and geographical locations in taking stricter wastewater quality requirements, tighter environmental emission regulations and higher community expectations which takes context across the Australian red meat processing industry.

Australian Meat Industry Council technical manager Conrad Blaney said the guidelines are an indication that the industry "demonstrates a voluntary commitment to operating at a high standard of environmental practice and shows the community it is protecting the Australian environment and being accountable for overall performance."

Australia Meat Holdings' general manager corporate affairs John Berry said the adoption of environmental practices has achieved direct water savings of about 600 million litres--an equivalent of 450 Olympic size swimming pools--at the company's Dinmore plant which is the country's largest meat processing facility.

The red meat processing industry is one of Australia's largest rural value-adding industries and operates various-sized processing facilities across the nation with products worth in excess of A$15.6 billion annually.