WASHINGTON — Twenty-eight members of the House of Representatives wrote to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), asking it to revise the recent ranking of waste management technologies to once again include rendering of agricultural waste.

The representatives voiced concern that such an omission could create problems for producers and commercial establishments by preventing the conversion of recyclable organic materials into high-quality finished products.

“We believe the exclusion of rendering, and these important energy and industrial uses, from the Wasted Food Scale will significantly impair food and organic waste reduction efforts by confusing future local, state and federal action,” the letter said.

In June, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released the “National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics,” with the goal of preventing food waste while increasing the recycling of food and organic material. With this release, the USDA revised the infographic that has historically prioritized the conversion of food waste to no longer mentioning rendering.

Through their letter, the lawmakers urged the EPA to work with the USDA and FDA to revise the Wasted Food Scale to again highlight the importance of rendering.

Agricultural businesses and organizations supported the move, including the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC).

In its latest Capitol Update, NPPC explained the significance of this regulatory matter.

“Rendering’s finished products include animal feeds, as well as fats, oils and greases, that serve as valuable feedstocks for the advanced biofuels industry,” NPPC said. “Those feedstocks also replace virgin oils in the production of many industrial products, including lubricants, paints and varnishes and can be used in anaerobic digesters to produce biogas. Additionally, the rendering of contaminated animals kills bacteria, protozoa, parasitic organisms and viruses, such as the highly pathogenic and low pathogenic avian influenza viruses.”