WRITTEN QUESTION P-3535/02

by Patricia McKenna (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(4 December 2002)

Subject: Disposal of BSE-infected carcasses

Can the Commission provide an answer as to whether waste reduction of animal tissue and safe treatment of special risk material using the combined technology of alkaline hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion is endorsed as a proven technology, as is the case in the United States of America and elsewhere, given that the destruction of the BSE prion cannot be guaranteed by incineration but is possible to guarantee by alkaline hydrolysis?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(9 January 2003)

Specified risk material must be disposed of in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 of the Parliament and of the Council of 3 October 2002 on health rules concerning animal by-products not intended for human consumption(1). The approved disposal methods include direct incineration as well as incineration or co-incineration following one of the processing methods described in Annex V of that Regulation. The combined technology of alkaline hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion is not included in this list of approved processing methods.

The current approved methods of safe disposal of specified risk material are in line with the current Community's Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) recommendations. According to these recommendations, incineration is ranked high among the safe ways of destroying the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) agent.

Regulation 1774/2002 allows for approving of alternative disposal methods after consultation of the appropriate scientific committee and under a legislative procedure involving the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health.

With regard to the treatment of animal waste by alkaline hydrolysis as a safe step in the disposal of materials carrying a TSE risk, the SSC adopted an opinion at its meeting in May 2002, which was revised at its meeting of 7 and 8 November 2002, taking into account other data submitted by the industry.

In this opinion the SSC in particular states that:

- further studies are needed before any final assurance could be given regarding the safety of the process with respect to the TSE risks;

- by-products of the process could carry a risk of BSE/TSE infectivity and this risk may decrease with the duration of the processing; further data would be needed in order to make a definitive statement.

The SSC considers that for the time being the direct discharge of the liquid residues of the alkaline hydrolysis process to the sewer without further treatment is not appropriate. The combination with anaerobic digestion is not considered as safe if the presence of residual TSE infectivity cannot be excluded, because the TSE clearance level by anaerobic digestion process is unknown (opinion of the SSC of 24-25 June 1999).

The SSC furthermore raises the issue of the possible presence of dioxins in the effluent of the alkaline hydrolysis process and states that additional data / analyses were needed to verify whether during this process dioxins are formed in addition to background levels that may already have been present.

The SSC's opinions are available on the website: http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/ssc/index_en.html

As a consequence of the statements of the SSC the combined technology of alkaline hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion is not approved as a safe processing method for disposal of animal by-products. However, the Commission is analysing the revised opinion of the SSC, with the view to a possible need for further data and with the view to laying down strict conditions for possible approval of the process to ensure protection of human health, animal health and the environment, bearing in mind the shortcomings highlighted in the opinion.

(1) OJ L 273, 10.10.2002.