Dairy processing sits inside the animal by-products framework in a way that surprises many producers, because milk is material of animal origin and the residues of processing it are regulated accordingly. Dairy processing ABP collection covers out-of-specification milk, failed batches, whey solids where they cannot be used, rejected packaged product and the material recovered from cleaning and separation. Martlands is a family-run, DEFRA approved operator in Burscough licensed for all three ABP categories, and our fallen stock and ABP collection business serves creameries, farmhouse cheese makers and dairy processors across Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria.
This article sets out where dairy material falls within the categories, why antibiotic residues change the answer, and what documentation a processor needs to hold for a retailer audit.
Milk and Dairy Products as Animal By-Products
Milk, colostrum and products derived from them are material of animal origin. Where they are no longer intended for human consumption, they become animal by-products. Product withdrawn for commercial reasons, short-dated stock, packaging failures and out-of-specification batches from a plant operating under normal conditions are Category 3 material, handled through our Category 3 ABP collection service under Animal By-Products Licence No APB/CCN21/373/8002.
The classification changes where a residue or contaminant is present that makes the material unsuitable for the feed chain. Milk containing veterinary medicine residues above permitted levels is the most common example on a farm-attached dairy, and it is not Category 3 material. It must be routed to Category 2 ABP collection or higher depending on the substance involved. Getting this wrong is the most consequential mistake available in this sector, because Category 3 material can enter processed animal feed and a residue-contaminated batch must not.
Antibiotic Milk on Farm-Attached Dairies
Farmhouse cheese makers and small creameries processing their own milk face this question weekly. Milk from cows under treatment or in a withdrawal period is withheld from the bulk tank, and it has to go somewhere. Feeding it to calves is a practice that has come under increasing scrutiny because of antimicrobial resistance concerns and because it is inconsistent with several assurance schemes, and it is not a disposal route for material that must be excluded from the food and feed chain.
Discharging it to a slurry store or to drain raises separate environmental issues and, in the case of a surface water drain, is a pollution offence. The compliant answer is a licensed collection with documentation, and the volumes on a small unit are usually modest enough that a scheduled collection alongside other material is straightforward. Our note on guide to ABP categories sets out how the classifications work in practice.
Whey, Permeate and What Can Be Used
Whey is a valuable by-product and much of it is used, either as animal feed, as an input to further processing or through anaerobic digestion. Those routes are legitimate where the material is clean, the receiving operation is approved for it, and the transfer is documented. What cannot happen is disposal to land or to watercourse, because whey has a very high biological oxygen demand and a spill into a beck is an immediate and highly visible pollution incident.
Where a batch cannot be used, whether because of contamination, a cleaning chemical carry-over or a plant failure, it becomes by-product material requiring collection. Sites with variable output benefit from a standing arrangement rather than an emergency call, because a failed batch usually needs to leave the site before production can restart.
Rejected Packaged Product
Packaged cheese, butter, cream and yoghurt rejected at final inspection or returned from a customer presents a specific handling problem. The product is animal by-product material, the packaging is not, and they arrive together. Depackaging is an approved activity at appropriate facilities, and material should be presented in the way agreed at set-up rather than opened and separated in an unsuitable area of the plant. Discuss this at the point the arrangement is made, because the answer depends on volume, packaging type and frequency.
Documentation and Retailer Audit
Dairy processors supplying multiple retailers face technical audits that examine waste routing in detail, precisely because the feed chain risk is well understood. Every collection produces a Commercial Document recording the category of material, the nature and quantity collected, the date, the collecting vehicle and the receiving premises, and where non-ABP waste is also collected a Waste Transfer Note accompanies it.
Auditors look for consistency between the production records showing a batch was rejected and the disposal records showing where it went. A gap between the two is the finding that generates a corrective action. Our note on animal by-products from food manufacturing covers how the documentation should sit alongside production records.
The Dairy Geography of the North West
This region carries some of the densest dairy production in England, and the processing sits alongside it. We collect across the Cheshire ABP collection area and its cheese making tradition, through the Lancashire ABP collection district where farmhouse production has grown strongly, and northward into Cumbria ABP collection. The M6 and M56 corridors connect most of that production, which is what allows a small creamery to get the same response as a large plant.
Arranging Collection
To set up a collection arrangement, confirm the correct category for a particular material, or arrange capacity for a failed batch, call 01704 776977 or use the contact us page. We will confirm the routing, agree a schedule that suits your production pattern, and provide full documentation with every collection.
