[Rendering plants in Belgium. A survey of their importance and significance (author's transl)].

Four rendering plants are responsible for the whole of the rendering processes in Belgium. The animal population is not equally spread over the country, there is a marked preponderance of the pig and poultry population in the northern part (fig 1 and 2), while cattle and horses are more equally spread. Per inhabitant about 6,5 kg cadaver and offal are rendered yearly. The offal remained relatively constant since 1970, on the contrary the weight of cadavers increased with about 50%, the pigs take the largest part of the increase (table 2). It is obvious that efforts are necessary to reduce drastically the mortality in pigs and poultry. Lowering of infection pressure in the environment could be one of the most effective measures to reduce the mortality in farm animals. On the other hand rendering plants have a specific hygienic role when only the destruction of animals infected with infectious agents submitted to legal regulations are taken in account (table 5).