Large-scalelivestock production generates considerable waste volumes fromlivestock rearing (veterinary products: needles, syringes, expireddrugs, feed remains), transportation (oils, smears, car tyres), and themaintenance of livestock buildings and installations (scrap, packaging,construction waste, filters). Animal carcasses and asbestos are specificand very troublesome types of waste at industrial livestock farms.
Animalcarcasses can be a potential source of microbiological contamination ofthe environment; if disposed improperly, this type of waste can carryserious epidemiological and epizootic risks. The scale of the problem isproportional to the livestock size. A broiler farm of 100,000 LU canproduce as much as 30 t/year (5% death loss) of biomass from animalcarcasses, a swine farm with 400 sows incl. piglets can produce 8-10 tof carcasses per year (10% death loss), and a dairy cattle farm with 500cows can produce 5-10 t of carcasses per year (cows and calves).
Underthe Act of 25 July 2001 on amending the Act on veterinarian professionand veterinary chambers, the Act on combating infectious diseases inanimals, examination of slaughter animals and meat, and on theVeterinary Inspection, and the Act on organization of rearing andbreeding of farm animals (Polish Journal of Laws Dz.U. 2001.129.1438)and the Act of 13 September 1996 on the maintenance of cleanliness andorder in local districts (Polish Journal of Laws Dz.U. 1996.132. 622),dead farm animals and post slaughter residues (livestock waste) must bedisposed to dedicated waste disposal facilities. The Agency forRestructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture offers financial supportto the disposing farms by covering the utilisation costs.
Theobligation to dispose animal carcasses to waste utilization facilitiesdoes not apply to single carcasses of piglets, rabbits, sheep and goatsunder 4 weeks of life, and single carcasses of poultry, which can beburied or burnt under conditions which do not violate the environmentalprotection regulations.
Inany case, until being collected by waste utilisation or neutralisationcompany, animal carcasses should be kept at conditions which limit, tothe biggest extent possible, the risk of odour emission and access byscavengers.
Asbestosis a hazardous waste present in many livestock farms. It needs to beprofessionally removed and stored. Asbestos is a group of inorganicmetamorphic fibrous minerals which are very pathogenic (carcinogenic andfibrogenic). Airborne asbestos fibres released during processing, use,removal and corrosion of products which contain asbestos pose the mostserious threat to health.
Asbestosis most often present in livestock buildings built before 1999. Sincethen, asbestos and products made of asbestos have been prohibited fromsale in Poland. It is estimated that after 1945, Poland imported around 2million tons of asbestos, the majority of which (80-85%) was used inthe construction of building products made of asbestos and concrete(mainly eternit cladding panels). In rural areas, over 1 billion m2of eternity cladding panels are still in use, and, although theasbestos issue is not limited to large-scale livestock farms, this typeof livestock production installations typically have large-area roofedlivestock buildings.
Productscontaining asbestos can be used until 31 December 2032, taking intoaccount the period of manufacturer guarantee, having obtained a positiveevaluation of the condition and safety of use of these products.Building owners, perpetual lessees and operators are under theobligation to take stock and inspect the condition of productscontaining asbestos, and to evaluate whether they continue to be safe.Products containing asbestos can be disqualified from use and replacedwith safe equivalent products (synthetic mineral fibres), or secured bytightly enclosing or covering them. What is also important, all worksinvolving disposal, transportation and storage of products containingasbestos must be entrusted to professional service providers.