• A rendering plant is an important component of the recycling process. Rendering plants create new products out of animal carcasses, used restaurant oil and residual meat processing scraps. The items are basically cooked down and made into dry or wet pet food, soap, machine oil and other specialties. While most plant operations are performed by machines, the process is fairly gruesome and requires plant workers to have strong stomachs, as it involves dealing with blood, organs and other parts of an animal. Rendering helps keep our landfills clean and prevents important organic material from going to waste.
  
  

Separator

• Separators are responsible for separating the hide from the animal. They use air to inflate the tissue between the skin and the flesh, and the skin pulls away. The skin then goes to the hide house for tanning. These workers are also responsible for separating out the collars and tags on dead pets and any other inorganic materials. The raw material is then moved on to a shredding process.
  
  

Shredder

• Shredding is done in a large vat with an auger and blade system. The flesh is shredded to make the rendering easier, much in the same way that smaller pieces of meat cook faster. Uniform-sized pieces heat more evenly and will break down quicker. This is a job for a machine, but the operator needs to know how to work the equipment and how to fix it if it gets jammed. Shredded raw material then goes on a conveyor to a continuous cooker.
  
  

Cooks and Engineers

• The cook's job is to keep the continuous cooker running. This piece of equipment is like a large pressure cooker that applies consistent heat at a temperature of 240 to 290 degrees Fahrenheit. The steam heat breaks apart fat while dehydrating the mixture. It is moved on the conveyor belts to a drainage area, then sent to a large centrifuge which separates out the solids and sends them to a pressing machine. Engineers are required for every inch of the plant, which is primarily run mechanically. They must have a high level of experience with machinery and an understanding of the process and repair procedures.
  
  

Other Jobs

• There is, of course, a plant manager and assistant manager, but different divisions have supervisors, such as the hide house and the raw materials house. The rendering plant is primarily an automated process that requires few actual workers inside. The office staff, management and administrators perform their functions outside of the plant. The final step in the rendering process includes workers who pack the finished product for shipping and sale.