Recalls and the garbage can

[koawala]

What happens to all that recalled meat- does it just get thrown into a landfill or do they make hot dogs out of it? How do you get rid of tainted meat? And what happened to all those toys that have lead paint? I assume that they cannot be tossed in the trash. Do they remove the lead paint- unleaded toys?

[friedo]

Once meat is bad, it rarely gets any better. It’ll make a nice compost pile somewhere.

I’ve heard that in the current beef recall, most of the meat concerned has already been eaten, though.

[RealityChuck]

@friedo

I’ve heard that in the current beef recall, most of the meat concerned has already been eaten, though.

Which puts it at sewage treatment plants all over the country.

[picunurse]

There was a new story here a couple days ago showing several truck loads being dumped into the landfill.

[Squink]

@friedo

It’ll make a nice compost pile somewhere.

Composting for Meat Processors

Meat is said to be slower to break down than typical vegetable matter, so the following estimates are based on conservative assumptions.

Under ideal conditions, it is possible to compost some materials is a little as 2 - 3 months. But if you are primarily in the meat processing, rather than the composting business, there is likely to be a limit to the amount of money and work you will want to invest in your composting operation. It seems reasonable to allow a full year for the complete cycle from freshly generated waste to finished compost ready for land application.
…
A ton of meat waste by itself will occupy about 1.2 - 1.5 cubic yards. With bulking agent mixed in, a newly mixed pile will occupy about 5 cubic yards for each ton of meat waste. (It will gradually lose volume as the material breaks down.)

If you are using windrows that are two square yards in cross section, you should therefore allow at least 2.5 linear yards, or about 8 feet of windrow length per ton of meat to be composted.