The use of animal fats in Europe’s transportation fuel is increasingly impacting the availability of these inputs for animal feed and pet food formulations, according to a report conducted by Cerulogy on behalf of Transport and Environment (T&E), an advocacy group. The organization states that the utilization of animal fats in biodiesel has grown significantly over the past decade. In fact, their demand for biofuel feedstocks is projected to triple by 2030, compared to 2021 data collected by T&E from Stratas Advisors.
In response to this trend, T&E is urging for the exclusion of category 3 animal fats as feedstocks for transport fuels. Under EU regulations, animal fats are classified into three categories based on their risk levels for human consumption and disease transmission. While categories 1 and 2 are suitable for heating applications, category 3 has a wide range of uses in the feed, pet food, and oleochemical industries.
The increased demand for animal fats in transportation is causing supply pressures across all categories, resulting in the need for industries to replace animal fats with alternative, often cheaper oils. However, if unsustainable materials such as palm oil are used as substitutes, the climate benefits of using animal fats in biofuels could be significantly undermined, with CO2 emissions potentially being up to 1.7 times worse than conventional diesel, warns Cerulogy’s briefing.
Furthermore, Cerulogy’s report highlights that the growing competition for animal fats is leading to higher prices and accessibility challenges for historical users, including manufacturers of pet food, animal feed, and oleochemicals. The prices for category 3 animal fats have doubled in the past 20 years, and representatives from the pet food industry anticipate a further 50% increase in costs in the coming years.
In addition to the concerns over supply pressures and escalating prices, T&E raises suspicions of potential fraud regarding the categorization of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) derived from category 3 animal fats under the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED). T&E calls for an investigation into this matter and urges the Commission to implement stronger safeguards along the supply chains, as well as a robust auditing system supervised by an independent body.
Recognizing the need for clarity and protective measures, EU pet food organization FEDIAF emphasizes that there is currently no protection for category 3 fats in RED. It advocates for explicit language in the legislative text, affirming that the cascading principle and EU waste hierarchy approach should apply to category 3 fats, similar to how these principles are applied to food crops and biomass.
Following the waste hierarchy approach, priority is given to the use of fats as food, followed by their utilization in animal nutrition. Only when there is no need or suitability for food or feed purposes should they be considered for other applications, such as biofuel production. As RED II is being transposed, FEDIAF is actively advocating for the inclusion of this principle at the national level.
