Martlands provides licensed Category 3 animal by-product collection to supermarkets, food manufacturers, butchers, abattoirs, restaurants and distribution centres across Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cumbria. Category 3 is the lowest risk tier in the animal by-products framework and the only one with a broad range of recovery outlets, which means the way it is segregated on your site has a direct effect on what it costs you to move. We operate under Animal By-Products Licence APB/CCN21/373/8002 from a DEFRA approved facility in Burscough.
What Falls Into Category 3
Category 3 covers material from animals that were fit for human consumption at the point of slaughter but which is not intended for it. In practice that means parts of slaughtered animals passed fit but not destined for the table, hides, skins, hooves, horns and bristles, blood from animals showing no sign of disease, former foodstuffs of animal origin withdrawn for commercial reasons, eggs and hatchery by-products free from infectious disease, aquatic animals and shellfish shells with soft tissue remaining, and wool, feathers and hair from animals healthy at slaughter.
Catering waste containing products of animal origin from restaurants, canteens and commercial kitchens is also Category 3. Two exceptions are worth knowing. Catering waste from international transport is Category 1, not Category 3, and it must be handled on that basis. Household waste collected by a local authority sits outside the animal by-products controls entirely, so a business cannot rely on domestic arrangements for commercial catering material.
The other rule that catches businesses out is the feeding restriction. Catering waste must not be fed to farmed animals, and the ban applies regardless of how the material is stored or how clean the kitchen is. Our page on the categories of animal by-products explained covers where the boundaries sit between the three tiers.
Why Segregation Determines Your Cost
Category 3 is the only tier with meaningful commercial value, and that value is fragile. Contact with Category 1 or Category 2 material downgrades an entire load to the higher tier. A single contaminated container does not create a paperwork problem to be resolved later; it removes every recovery route the load would otherwise have had and moves it onto a disposal route priced accordingly.
On a site producing more than one tier, this is the single most effective thing you can control. Keep containers physically separated, clearly identified by category, and positioned so that staff under time pressure are not choosing between them by guesswork. Where a site produces higher tiers alongside Category 3, they are collected through Category 1 ABP collection and Category 2 ABP collection, and running all three through one operator removes the risk of a stream reaching the wrong vehicle.
Where Category 3 Material Goes
Because Category 3 material carries the lowest risk, the regulations permit outlets that are closed to the higher tiers. Processed animal protein derived from Category 3 is used in pet food manufacture. Rendered fats and tallow go to oleochemical uses including soaps, lubricants and biodiesel feedstock. Former foodstuffs can go to approved biogas or composting plants. Meat and bone meal derived from Category 3 can be used in organic fertilisers and soil improvers, subject to the restrictions that apply to land grazed by farmed animals.
Which outlet applies depends on the material and on the approval status of the receiving plant, not on preference. Our page on Category 3 animal by-products safe recycling and reuse follows the material through the process.
Documentation and Inspection Readiness
Every Category 3 animal by-product collection is accompanied by a Commercial Document recording the category, the quantity, the producer, the carrier and the receiving plant, or a Waste Transfer Note where the material is handled as waste under the duty of care. The producer copy is retained for two years.
For retail and manufacturing sites, these records support ISO 14001 certification, environmental health and local authority inspections, and internal sustainability reporting. We hold Waste Carrier Licence CB/QE5406MT and Site Licence EAWML/100236, and collections are booked and tracked through the KoLeCt system, so a collection history can be produced quickly when an auditor asks for one at short notice.
Who We Provide Category 3 Animal By-Product Collection For
Supermarkets and Retail
Former foodstuffs are the dominant Category 3 stream in retail. Short-dated meat, dairy and bakery lines arrive in volume and often still packaged, which adds a separation step before the animal-derived content can reach a permitted outlet. Tell us what proportion of your stream is packaged when you set the account up, because it changes the container specification. Our page on former foodstuffs and bakery waste as Category 3 ABP covers the retail and producer position in detail.
Butchers and Cutting Plants
Trimmings, bone and fat are produced continuously rather than in batches, and back-of-house storage is usually the constraint rather than volume. Collection frequency should be set by how long material can sit before it becomes an environmental health question, not by a standard weekly slot. See butchers waste collection for the dedicated service, and the problem with butchers waste for why this stream causes more trouble than its volume suggests.
Food Manufacturing and Production
Production by-products arrive at predictable volumes on predictable cycles, which makes scheduled high-capacity collection straightforward once the pattern is understood. We build routes around production timetables rather than fitting sites into fixed rounds.
Restaurants, Hotels and Catering
Commercial catering waste containing products of animal origin is Category 3 and cannot go through a general waste contract. Sites with a mix of animal and non-animal food waste are usually better served by a combined arrangement, covered under food waste collection and full food waste and ABP collection. Larger hospitality operations may find our page on hotel food waste collection useful.
Category 3 Animal By-Product Collection Across the North West
Burscough sits within easy reach of the M6, M58 and M62, which puts the Liverpool and Manchester distribution corridors, the Lancashire retail centres and the Cheshire processing belt on routine routes rather than exception journeys. Shorter distances mean fewer transport emissions attributable to your waste, which is a genuine reporting benefit rather than a claim we need to inflate.
Town-level coverage for commercial food waste includes Chorley food waste collection, Wigan food waste collection and St Helens food waste collection, with butchery streams covered across Lancashire butchers waste collection and Cheshire butchers waste collection areas.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Category 3 differ from Categories 1 and 2?
Category 1 must be destroyed and cannot be recovered. Category 2 cannot enter the food chain but can be rendered and used for technical purposes and certain fertilisers. Category 3 has the widest range of outlets, including pet food manufacture, which is why it is worth keeping separate.
Is all catering waste Category 3?
No. Catering waste from restaurants, canteens and commercial kitchens containing products of animal origin is Category 3. Catering waste from international transport is Category 1. Household waste collected by a local authority falls outside the animal by-products controls.
Can you take packaged former foodstuffs?
Yes. Packaging must be separated before the animal-derived content reaches its outlet, so tell us the approximate packaged proportion when arranging collection, as it affects the container and the routing.
Can Category 3 material go to anaerobic digestion?
Former foodstuffs and catering waste can go to an approved biogas or composting plant. The plant must hold approval for the category it receives, which is why the receiving facility matters as much as the material.
What happens if Category 3 is mixed with a higher tier?
The whole load is treated as the higher category. This is the most common and most expensive avoidable mistake we see, and it is entirely a segregation issue rather than a collection one.
What records does an auditor ask to see?
The producer copy of the Commercial Document or Waste Transfer Note for each collection, retained for two years. Filed by date, it makes an inspection quick. The consequences of material leaving through an unlicensed route are set out in our page on the environmental impact of improper disposal.
Arrange Category 3 Animal By-Product Collection
If you are producing material of animal origin and are not certain it is being segregated correctly, that is worth resolving before an inspection raises it rather than after. We can assess your streams, specify containers and set a frequency that reflects how your site actually operates. Call 01704 776977 to speak to the team, or use our contact us page to request a quote for Category 3 animal by-product collection.