Nothing wasted

By partnering with rendering giant Sanimax, Dr. David Bressler is adding value to agricultural products – some would call this recycling

Recycling is usually associated with bottles and paper, but it’s also at the core of Dr. David Bressler’s cutting-edge research.

The University of Alberta scientist is a master at transforming different agricultural byproducts – including wastes from beef production – into value-added products, especially biofuel and industrial solvents.

“When you produce a cow, half of the value comes from rendering – only half the value came from the meat on sale at your local grocery store,” he explains.

But since BSE, parts of the cow that were previously recycled into fertilizers, consumer goods and animal feed products now fall under the category ‘Specified Risk Material,’ due to a higher risk of transmitting mad cow disease. Renderers have been forced to dump this material in landfills or destroy it, creating environmental waste and narrowing producer’s bottom lines.

Much of Bressler’s research focuses on finding safe, industrial uses for this material – and techniques for processing it. Two of his techniques, including one that uses high temperatures to transform fats into solvents and biofuels, recently caught the attention of multi-national rendering company Sanimax.

For the last two years, Bressler has been collaborating with the company on a licensing agreement, with help from TEC Edmonton.

It’s a partnership that ensures Bressler’s research doesn’t stagnate in academia, but will benefit beef producers, rendering companies, the environment and consumers.

Help from TEC Edmonton ensures successful partnerships that don’t keep Bressler from the lab.

“TEC Edmonton really serves as an enabler to allow academics like me to focus on the things we should be focusing on – like research and teaching.”