View report page

36
the rest of the area. Moreover, section 59 restores the power of a local authority of
require the demolition of obstructive buildings, which was repealed in the Act of 1930.
One of the more important new procedures introduced in the Act of 1935 is the
creation of what are known as " redevelopment areas," which must conform to the
following conditions:—the area must contain at least 50 working.class houses,
and it is necessary for at least one.third of these houses to be overcrowded, or unfit
and incapable of being made fit at a reasonable expense, or congested in their
arrangement; further, the local conditions must be such that the area should be
used substantially for working.class housing, and lastly it must be expedient to
re.develop the area as a whole. Although no " redevelopment area " has been declared
during the year, much time has been devoted to consideration of possible areas and
to preliminary surveys.
Disposal and utilisation of waste food and other waste materials.
An enquiry with regard to the disposal and utilisation of waste food and other
waste materials has recently been made by the chief inspector of the department,
and it is thought that his report will be of general interest.
The origin and methods of disposal and utilisation of waste food and certain other waste
materials have been investigated. Particulars and observations are submitted, as follows.
Waste food.
Enquiries nave been made at 26 premises (where informaiton was obtained witn regard to
numerous branch establishments) covering the following businesses: hotels and caterers, 'wash'
or 'swill' contractors, fat and bone dealers, tallow melters, glue and chemical works, feeding
meal manufacturers.
In several cases information was refused. In the cases where information was obtained the
amounts are only approximate, and for varying periods.
Waste food is dealt with under the following headings:—
(1) Wash tor pig food.
(2) Bones.
(3) Fat.
(4) Surplus meat.
(5) Fish offal.
(6) Stale bread, cakes and pastries.
(7) Surplus and damaged green vegetables
and root croDS.
Wash for pig
food.
Wash, generally speaking, is the scrap food and leavings from hotel, restaurant, and caterers'
kitchens, and it may be either cooked or uncooked. It is usually stored in metal bins or skips,
and is disposed of by being fed direct to the firms' own pigs ; sold to a contractor who may either
feed his own pigs with it or sell it to other pig breeders ; or placed in a bin and removed by the
local authority as trade refuse.
It is not processed in any way by the producers, and they know of no use to which it is put
other than that of pig feeding.
Where wash is sold to contractors, periodic removal takes place daily or twice or three
times a week. The contractors, in the majority of cases, have depots in the home counties.
Bones.
Bones are obtained from the following sources:—meat markets, retail butchers' shops and
provision stores, restaurants and hotels, Borough Council refuse depots.
They are sold to fat and bone merchants, who in turn dispose of them to manufacturers
who utilise them for other products, or are sent direct to such manuf acturers. They are used in the
manufacture of: glue and size, fertilisers, charcoal, bone articles (such as buttons, knife handles,
etc.), feeding meal for poultry.
The fat extracted trom bone processing is disposed of as tallow, or utilised as such.
It is the general practice in the case of butchers' shops for waste bones and fat to be sold
together. This involves sorting by the dealer before dispatch to the manufacturers.
Small quantities of bones are salvaged from Borough Council refuse depots and sold to
glue and size manufacturers.
Fat.
The periodic removal from premises varies from once a day at large producers to once a week
or once a fortnight where the production is on a small scale.
Fat is derived from many of the same sources, and is collected and disposed of in the same
manner as bones. It is used for the following purposes:—tallow (rough fat being rendered or
treated in digesters and used in the manufacture ot soap), blended with heavy lubricating oils,
stearine, glycerine, dripping for dog biscuits.
The residues (greaves) derived trom the processing of fat are used in the manufacture of dog
biscuits and feeding meals for cattle and poultry.
Clean ox caul tat is rendered and sold as edible dripping; some catering firms render all the
waste fat into dripping, and many retail butchers render, for this purpose, small quantities.
Fat purchased by dealers is generally sorted before being sold to manufacturers.
Periodic removal from premises coincides with that indicated for bones.
Surplus meat, such as breast and scrag of mutton and clod and sticking of beef from
wholesale and retail butchers and provision shops, is treated in a digester for fat extraction and
the residues used for the same purposes as given above for fat extraction. Fat, bones, and surplus
meat are collected from markets, butchers and provision shops, hotels, etc., by various dealers,
some in only a small way of business, who dispose of the materials to larger firms. These in
turn either sell them to manufacturers or process the materials themselves for tallow melting, etc.
Surplus meat,
stale bread,
etc., and
vegetables.