Agricultural waste management

The Animal By-Products Regulations (ABPR) contain rules for collecting, transporting, storing, handling, processing, using and disposing of animal carcasses or parts of animal carcasses. Most significantly, they ban the routine on-farm burial or open burning of carcasses or parts of carcasses.

The only exceptions to the ban are when:

• there is a disease outbreak
• you are disposing of animal remains in certain remote areas.

Even in these cases, you will have to take certain measures to protect human and animal health and the environment such as only burying carcasses in areas agreed with the Environment Agency.

Local councils and Animal Health (the new name for the State Veterinary Service) enforce the ABPR. The Environment Agency also regulates some elements of carcass disposal, such as groundwater authorisations for carcass burial.

National Fallen Stock Company

The National Fallen Stock Company helps farmers and horse owners comply with the ABPR by providing a scheme that offers a reliable, low-cost means of collecting and disposing of carcasses. The scheme is open to all farmed livestock owners and businesses.

You do not have to join the National Fallen Stock Scheme. You can still arrange to dispose of animal carcasses yourself. The scheme's helpline (0845 054 8888) can provide you with contact details for local disposal services.

If you arrange disposal of carcasses yourself, you should ensure that they go to an:

• Animal Health approved renderer or licensed knacker's yard
• incinerator licensed under the ABPR
• Animal Health approved hunt kennel for use as dog feed.

You must ensure that the recipients of the carcasses hold the appropriate licence, permit or authorisation to accept this waste.