Piloting the production of collagen and gelatine in Guatemala Note: This project has been cancelled, because progress in the projects implementation was slow, and partners faced financial constraints.Gelatine is one of the richest sources of proteins and is used as a raw material in a wide range of productive sectors such as pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, photographic supplies, cosmetics, electroplating, dyes, papermaking and printing. Lack of availability of competitive substitutes in the market makes gelatine one of the most indispensable feedstock across various end-user industries. Gelatine is a commodity product and thus its sales price is established by the world market. Gelatine derives from collagen. Collagen is the main structural protein of various connective tissues in animals. Collagen is used in food, cosmetic, medical & pharmaceutical industries among others. There is also a shortage in supply of collagen, which market price is constantly increasing.The applicant Quimipharma and local partner Nutripharma will set up the first facility near Guatemala City for the extraction of gelatine from collagen. The most important raw materials for the joint venture are meat by-products (tendons, skin, and bones). Local slaughterhouses are currently treating by-products as waste. This is causing major contamination problems in Guatemala, as local slaughterhouses ignore all legislation they are supposed to follow to avoid environmental pollution. The project partners will implement a zero-waste campaign to obtain and process the meat by-products for their process. The joint venture will contract at least four slaughterhouses throughout Guatemala in order to source all raw materials needed for the project. By working in close cooperation with the slaughterhouses and providing them with a profitable solution for their by-products, slaughterhouses will be able to increase their income while the environmental problems will be reduced.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)The project partners are committed to comply with OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises with regard to CSR, the ILO declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work and the UN convention on biodiversity. All employees of the joint venture will receive trainings on CSR policy. The project partners will put considerable effort into securing good and safe working conditions for its employees. During the production process limited amounts of chemicals will be used and no healthy lifting will be required.The employees of the joint venture will receive salaries at least 26% higher than the minimum wage. Transport to and from the production facility will be provided and a small day care will be established.Impact•	Employment and working conditionsAll employees of the joint venture will receive trainings on CSR policy. The employees of the joint venture will be offered long-term contracts, and will receive salaries at least 26% higher than the minimum wage. Transport to and from the production facility will be provided and a small day care.•	Innovation/Transfer of knowledgeCurrently, there are no production facilities in Guatemala or Central America that extracts gelatine from collagen, or produce gelatine and collagen. All collagen and gelatine that are processed in the industry in Central America are imported from North America or Asia.•	Chain effectsImpact on local suppliersThe most essential raw materials for the production of gelatine and collagen are meat by-products. This will be sourced from four local slaughterhouses through Guatemala. The joint venture will contract the slaughterhouses for the supply of these raw materials providing slaughterhouses with a profitable solution for their by-products. Through the Zero waste programme of the joint venture the slaughterhouses will be taught how they can slaughter cattle in the most efficient manner.Impact on local customers or consumersLocal customers will benefit from the project as they will be able to purchase collagen and gelatine for lower prices than imported. The local end consumers could benefit as the sector will be able to sell their products for lower prices.•	Impact on the sectorThe project partners and Universidad San Carlos will create multiple internships for graduating students. The project partners are also interested in forming partnerships with other businesses in order to produce products that require special types of collagen and gelatine. This way contributing to the development and innovation of the sector. Project partners would like to establish in cooperation with different knowledge institutes, a research centre aimed at developing technologies needed to extract gelatine from vegetable origins.•	EnvironmentThe meat by-products, now seen as waste, will be used to produce collagen and gelatine. Local slaughterhouses are currently treating the larger part of the by-products needed as raw materials by the joint venture as waste. This is causing major contamination problems in Guatemala as these local slaughterhouses ignore all legislation they are supposed to follow to avoid environmental pollution. By working in close cooperation with slaughterhouses environmental problems will be reduce.•	Position of women34 of the 65 jobs will for female employees, and 12 of the 34 medium/high positions. To establish a production facility for the production and commercialisation of collagen and gelatine from wasted meat by-products with a maximum capacity of 684 Mtons of gelatin and 270 Mtons of collagen per year.