By Tina Caparella
Rainy weather and the passing of a popular past president didn’t deter Midwest renderers from traveling to Green Lake, WI, for the National Renderers Association (NRA) Central Region Convention in June. In honor of President Ronald Reagan, a moment of silence was taken before Mark Lies II, Seyfarth Shaw, LLP, opened the two-day meeting by presenting “Supervisor Responsibility: Potential Civil and Criminal Liability.” He began by examining the typical supervisor qualifications and their legal status within a company, pointing out that supervisors from Generation X, born between 1965 and 1978, and Generation Y, born between 1979 and 1994, are frequently reluctant or unaware of their duty to discipline those who previously were coworkers.
“They don’t know how to discipline or they do it in a way that it creates workplace violence,” Lies stated, adding that companies must ensure their supervisors are properly trained in the various employment laws, such as worker’s compensation and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and on proper employee discipline.
Another recommendation was that companies develop an employee handbook and keep it up to date. Lies said that although there is no legal requirement at this time to provide the handbook in languages other than English, he suggested translating it for those employees who don’t speak English.
Lies covered the FMLA, which provides qualified employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for an immediate family member, reminding attendees that when an employee is on FMLA leave, employers cannot contact them on work-related issues unless the employee volunteers to assist while on leave. He also told the audience that if an employee fails to report for work after several days, it’s in the employer’s best interest to find out why because the failure to report could be FMLA related.
Another topic Lies addressed was Americans with Disabilities Act liability. He stated that employers don’t have to shift duties to accommodate a disability, supervisors should be trained to be sensitive to those with disabilities, and to keep medical information confidential and out of the employee’s personnel folder.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) liability was also discussed, with an emphasis placed on ensuring the workplace is free of hazards and that supervisors are trained to deal with safety issues.
“It doesn’t take much for OSHA to prove criminal liability,” Lies said.
Having just returned from attending the European Fat Processors and Renderers Association meeting in the United Kingdom, Michael Langenhorst, Anamax Corporation, recapped events in the European Union (EU). He said prior to the recent addition of 10 more countries, the 15 EU member countries processed 15.7 million metric tons of raw material, or roughly 32 billion pounds, about three-fifths the amount North America processes. Because of EU regulations, 67 percent of the protein meals that were produced in 2003 were incinerated, 17 percent was used in pet food, primarily poultry and some swine meals, 10 percent went into fertilizer, four percent went into storage, and two percent was land-filled. Currently, there is 1,000 million metric tons of protein in storage waiting to be destroyed, which is estimated to take one-and-a-half years.
Langenhorst stated that of the fat produced in the EU, 31 percent was used in soap and oleochemicals, 25 percent went into feed in those countries that permit it, 24 percent was used for energy, seven percent went into pet food, six percent (edible fat) was used in food, and four percent was used for other purposes.
Within the EU, composting is becoming more vogue, particularly for material that falls under Categories 2 and 3 of the EU Animal By-Products Regulation. Langenhorst pointed out that where composting is used, there has been an increase of botulism in animals in the past eight years.
According to Langenhorst, EU biodiesel production far exceeds U.S. production. In Germany alone, 300 million gallons of biodiesel was produced in 2003, compared to 25 million gallons produced in the United States during the same time. He said the primary feedstock for biodiesel production in the EU is rapeseed oil, although 50,000 metric tons of animal fats and restaurant grease was used in Germany, primarily by one company. No soy oil is used due to concerns over genetically modified organisms. One reason Langenhorst gave for biodiesel’s popularity in the EU is the various tax incentives – there is no tax on biodiesel in Germany, Spain, or Austria.
The morning session wrapped up with an interactive discussion on anti-terrorism for plant security. Attendees worked in groups to determine how terrorism develops and how renderers can counteract the activities by terrorist groups, which include animal rights activists. Presenters Doug Smith and Gerald Kinard, both of Law Enforcement Academic Research Network, Inc., explained that renderers should encourage employees to report suspicious or questionable activities or persons. Smith said a company’s goal during a crisis response is to make an emotional connection with the public through tangible, visible representation of a company’s actions. He gave as an example the events surrounding the Exxon Valdez oil spill where Exxon employees helped to rescue injured animals. Smith emphasized that an organization that plans and practices a response to a crisis recovers two to three times faster and with less financial and human costs than those companies that aren’t prepared.
Following a break for lunch, James Mitchell, Center for Ethical Business Cultures, discussed ethical leadership, providing the following three actions from the book Integrity, by Stephen L. Carter:
1. Discern what is good, true, and right through reflection;
2. Act on your conclusion without regard to cost or risk;
3. Talk openly about why you are doing what you’re doing so others may learn from your example.
Deborah Dempsey, Uniqema, addressed the tallow market. She said the oleochemical industry is pushing for science-based decisions with regards to North American regulations following the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the state of Washington last December. Dempsey said the NRA is working together with the soap association to educate the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the ramifications of banning animal by-products in cosmetics, such as not enough edible tallow to meet current demand if only that product is permitted in cosmetics, which represents 10 percent of the oleochemical market.
“I think tallow, from a technical aspect, is the best raw material for our product,” Dempsey stated. She explained the reasons for a tallow structural shortage of 20 percent below normal levels in the fourth quarter of 2003, including reduced slaughter driven by low packer margins, reduced slaughter weights, and exports of packer-grade tallow to Pakistan that were subsidized by the U.S. government in November and December 2003, and January 2004. Dempsey said these factors helped to increase tallow prices 35 percent.
Rounding out the day’s session was a presentation by Dick Bean, Ashland Specialty Chemical, on total water management, which he defined as “being able to manage and treat water from the time it enters your plant until it leaves.” He described the various pretreatment options, including water softening, which he said is the most common pretreatment for removing scale-forming minerals such as calcium and magnesium. Bean said ozone is an emerging technology and believes it will be beneficial for the rendering industry. One renderer spoke about his company’s unsuccessful attempt at using ozone. Bean explained that one problem might have been the scrubber water temperature, which has an affect on how well ozone works.
The second day of the convention addressed business issues, beginning with Tom Cook, NRA, who said that biodiesel tax incentives are still alive in various pieces of legislation.
“We continue to work hard to get equality for all feedstocks,” he stated. As for BSE regulations, Cook summed it up this way: “We’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop for a year,” since Canada discovered BSE in May 2003. Canadian regulators have not made any changes to their feed regulations and there is still no word on when FDA will release a rule on changes to U.S. feed regulations.
“The thing that’s setting in people’s minds is 50 billion pounds of raw material and what are you going to do with it if you take it out of the animal proteins stream and who’s going to pay for it?” Cook explained.
Gary Pearl, Fats and Proteins Research Foundation, said that recent challenges related to BSE have turned into opportunities, such as more animal proteins currently being used in swine feed than in the past 10 years. He said another opportunity is the 117 poultry mills using six to nine percent animal proteins in their rations out of 154 mills that produce poultry feed.
After the region held their business meeting, it was announced that the next convention would be held in June 2005 in Brainard, MN.
August 2004 Render