Feed Ingredients Segment
Our Feed Ingredients segment consists principally of (i) our U.S. ingredients
business, including our used cooking oil, trap grease and food residuals collection
businesses, the Rothsay ingredients business, and the ingredients and specialty
products businesses conducted by Darling Ingredients International under the
Sonac name (proteins, fats, technical fats and blood products) and (ii) our
bakery by-products business.
International Operations
Darling Ingredients International’s ingredients and specialty products
businesses are operated under the Sonac name by our Sonac C3, Sonac Bone and
Sonac Blood business activities. The Sonac ingredients and specialty products
businesses of Darling Ingredients International operate similarly to our North
American ingredients division. However, the Sonac businesses, with the exception
of Sonac C3, further separate raw material streams to add additional value to
each stream.
Sonac C3 processes animal by-products collected primarily from slaughterhouses,
into proteins and fats for applications used in the pet food, feed, technical,
biofuels and oleo-chemical markets. Oleo-chemical producers use fats to produce
specialty ingredients used in paint, rubber, paper, concrete, plastics and a
variety of other consumer and industrial products.
Sonac Bone processes porcine bones into fat, bone protein, glue, bone ash
and bone chips for the feed, pet food, food and gelatin industries.
Sonac Blood processes bovine, porcine and ovine blood by separating blood
into plasma and hemoglobin and produces specialized end products for application
in the feed and pet food markets. Sonac Blood’s end products include plasma,
fibrimex, globin and hemin.
Bakery By-Products
The Company is a leading processor of bakery residuals in the United States.
The bakery by-products division, which operates solely in the United States,
collects bakery residual materials and processes the raw materials into BBP,
including Cookie Meal®, an animal feed ingredient primarily used in poultry
and swine rations.
Food Ingredients Segment
Our Food Ingredients segment consists principally of (i) the gelatin business
conducted by Darling Ingredients International under the Rousselot name, (ii)
the natural casings and meat by-products business conducted by Darling Ingredients
International under the CTH name and (iii) certain specialty products businesses
conducted by Darling Ingredients International under the Sonac name.
Fuel Ingredients Segment
Our Fuel Ingredients segment consists of (i) our biofuel business conducted
under the Dar Pro® and Rothsay names and (ii) the bioenergy business conducted
by Darling Ingredients International under the Ecoson and Rendac names.
Biofuel
We produce biodiesel at our facilities in the United States and Canada. In
the United States, we use a portion of our rendered animal fats and recycled
cooking oils, as well as third-party additives, to produce Bio G-3000™
Premium Diesel Fuel. We have the annual capacity to produce two million gallons
of Bio G-3000™ at our facility in Butler, Kentucky. Our facility in Sainte-Catherine,
Quebec also processes tallow and recycled cooking oils produced by us into biodiesel.
The Quebec facility, which was acquired in the Rothsay Acquisition, has a current
annual capacity to produce approximately 14 million gallons a year. Our biodiesel
product is sold to our internal divisions, as well as to commercial biodiesel
producers in the United States and Canada, to be used as biodiesel fuel, a clean
burning additive for diesel fuel, or as a biodegradable solvent or cleaning
agent.
Bioenergy
In Europe, Ecoson produces green power from biogas production out of organic
sludge and food waste for combined heat plant installations. Ecoson is the largest
industrial digestion operation in the Netherlands, with an output matching the
annual use of energy needs of approximately 10,000 households. In addition Ecoson's
fat refinery produces refined fats and fatty acids. In fiscal 2014, Ecoson commenced
the processing of manure into natural biophosphate for use as fertilizer and
green gas.
Rendac collects fallen stock and animal waste, also referred to as Category
1 and Category 2 material under applicable E.U. regulations, from farmers and
slaughterhouses, and processes these materials into fats and meals, which can
only be used as a low grade source of energy or fuel for boilers and cement
kilns. With a specialized collection fleet of approximately 300 trucks, Rendac
collects raw materials in the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium.
This business is a market leader in the countries of Belgium, Netherlands and
Luxembourg (the "Benelux region") and certain parts of Germany, a
predominantly regulated market with spare capacity requirements and long-term
contracts with local governments. The market for the collection and processing
of fallen stock in these regions is regulated, and government contracts provide
for exclusivity of the service to the contracted partner and regulate the guaranteed
returns for the Company.
Diamond Green Diesel
The DGD Joint Venture commenced operations in June 2013. The DGD Joint Venture
operates a renewable diesel plant (the “DGD Facility”) located in
Norco, Louisiana capable of processing approximately 12,000 barrels per day
of input feedstock to produce renewable diesel fuel and certain other co-products.
We account for the DGD Joint Venture as an “investment in unconsolidated
subsidiary.” The DGD Joint Venture operates the DGD Facility, which converts
animal fats, recycled greases and used cooking oil, which are supplied in part
by us, and other feedstocks that become economically and commercially viable,
such as inedible corn oil and soybean oil, into renewable diesel. The DGD Facility
uses an advanced hydroprocessing-isomerization process licensed from UOP LLC,
known as the Ecofining™ Process, and a pretreatment process developed
by the Desmet Ballestra Group designed to convert approximately 1.4 billion
pounds per year of feedstocks, into renewable diesel and certain other co-products.
The Diamond Green Diesel renewable diesel product is sold to refiners under
the Diamond Green Diesel® name to be blended with diesel fuel and is interchangeable
with diesel produced from petroleum.