North State Rendering in Chico, CA, services the very southern section of Oregon while Darling International’s plant in Tacoma, WA, has been providing service to small and large supermarkets and meat processors in central Oregon as far south as Bend since Redmond Tallow in Redmond, OR, shut down in October 2006.
Also at that time, state and county officials issued a permit to Crook County Landfill to accept carcasses and animal by-products as a temporary solution to the disposal problem. Since the permit expired in October 2007, the landfill has installed a refrigerated transfer facility to still allow collection of material, with the material then picked-up once or twice a week by Darling International who then transports it to their plant in Tacoma.
But with the rising costs of transportation making it uneconomical for some to use faraway rendering services, one man is looking to build a rendering plant in central Oregon and scatter a few transfer stations throughout the state. Jim Gordon, a principal in Earth by Design, has been working with state and county officials to fulfill the need for in-state rendering services in Oregon.
“He has a very extensive plan,” said Jerry Gardner of the Oregon Department of Agriculture. “So far, so good.” But building a rendering plant to meet the needs of an entire state takes time, and money.
As of January 2008, Gordon had secured 135 acres of land with a 100-year lease adjacent to the Crook County Landfill in Prineville, OR, northeast of Bend. There he plans to build a fully integrated rendering operation, biogas facility, and multi-feedstock biodiesel plant that will primarily use rendered fats and greases. Gordon is still evaluating the various technologies available for all three processes, with the goal of breaking ground by this summer.
The proposed rendering facility will accept deadstock, meat products, used cooking grease, and other animal by-products. The rendered fat and grease will be used as a feedstock in the biodiesel plant and Gordon is looking to partner with other companies that are interested in purchasing the protein meal, whether it’s another renderer or an end user.
One challenge for Gordon is determining the amount of raw material produced in the state so he can decide the scale of his operations. Past and current renderers that collect the state’s raw material say the volume is low, and most restaurant grease in the state is currently being collected by several established biodiesel producers.
According to an Oregon State University Extension report, the Crook County Landfill took in an average of 87,000 pounds of carcasses and butcher waste each month in 2007, with butcher waste accounting for two-thirds of the total material. Over a seven month period, landfill space dedicated to disposal of this material was 19,200 cubic feet, resulting in a need of 32,914 cubic feet per year. According to the report, this is equivalent to dedicating an area the size of a football field (at a depth of eight feet) roughly every year and a half.
As for financing the venture, Gordon, who has a background in municipal treatment biogas and continuous feed digestion, and government officials are evaluating grants and low interest loans to combine with personal funds to bring the project to life.
Newsline - February 2008 Render