§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment his Department has made of the implications for health of the decision to move to a policy of rendering carcases killed under the OTMS prior to incineration; and if he will make a statement. [151810]
§ Ms QuinSince the outset of the OTMS in 1996, disposal of cattle has been by two means, either by direct incineration of the carcase, or by rendering of the carcase followed by the storage and subsequent incineration of the rendered material. There was then, and remains, insufficient capacity directly to incinerate all of the cattle104W slaughtered. The majority are, therefore, rendered. All OTMS rendering plants operate under strict controls enforced by the Environment Agency and the relevant local authority to protect both public and environmental health. To assess the safety of OTMS operations, the Environment Agency commissioned a number of studies from independent expert consultations of the risk from BSE to human health via different environmental pathways, based on the precautionary principle. These were produced in consultation with the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) and published in 1997. They showed that the risks are negligible compared to other risks in daily life and endorsed SEAC's advice to the Government in 1996 that the current and proposed methods of dealing with animal waste material from the slaughter of cattle are safe.
§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much meat and bonemeal has been created as a result of rendering carcases culled under the OTMS. [151781]
§ Ms QuinThe total quantity of meat and bonemeal created from rendering carcases under OTMS is 588,803 tonnes.
§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much meat and bonemeal has been disposed of via(a) direct incineration and (b) rendering followed by incineration in each year since the establishment of the OTMS. [151782]
§ Ms QuinThe total quality of meat and bonemeal incinerated so far is 157,613 tonnes, with a further 431,190 tonnes in store.
For further information, the following table compares the weight of carease material directly incinerated with that rendered.
Tonnes Year Direct incineration Rendering 1996 0 206,627 1997 340 133,429 1998 18,340 376,763 1999 43,897 384,398 2000 43,179 387,049