By-products processing unit and rendering services of Apostolos Papadopoulos Meat Company operates in the company’s Production Park in Labrino, Xanthi. 

It disposes of two production lines, one for combustion and one for inactivation and serves the company’s needs and the needs of Thrace in general, as the only unit of its kind in the entire region. 

The non-processable by-products of the slaughterhouse, the discarded and the unsuitable slaughtered products, the dead animals of the livestock farms of the area and the food of animal origin that must be destroyed for various reasons end up in the rendering unit for incineration or inactivation 

The by-products of inactivation are transported to specialized processors or are transported to the landfill as completely safe for public health and the environmental waste. 

Integrated management of high fat animal waste 

The pilot installation for the integrated management of high-fat animal waste is connected to the company’s rendering unit. It was designed and built from scratch by the company, in collaboration with the School of Environmental Engineering of Democritus University of Thrace. 

In the pilot installation, with the development of innovative technology, biogas is produced from the treatment of waste with the possibility of being converted into electricity, capable of meeting the company’s needs. For the successful completion of the project, from 2010 to date, more than 30 people work in harmony: technical staff of the company, undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as doctoral candidates of the Department of Environmental Engineering. 

The smooth operation of the installation has offered a variety of benefits both to the environment and the company, as well as to the educational, scientific and local business community, having opened new paths for research, innovative applications and business opportunities for joint utilization of organic waste. 

The pilot project inspired more than 20 undergraduate and postgraduate theses and a doctoral dissertation and has been awarded the Ecopolis Environmental Awareness Award in 2017 and the Environmental Award in 2018.