University of Alberta scientist turning mad cow parts into material for plastic

Are there really enough "mad" cows around to make this a viable product?

See, that's what I was thinking when I mentioned the cost factor. Do you have enough raw material (mad cows) to bring the price of your finished product down to a marketable level?? And what happens when ranchers sharply reduce your resources by eliminating mad cows from their herds??

Or do we have the reverse effect, and make it profitable enough for them to not worry if they get mad cows any more, and screw the health precautions? You'd have the unintended consequence of ENCOURAGING them to raise mad cows?? And what happens if the two become mixed up and taint the food supply?? You think profits would trump public safety, or would it be the other way around??

You put your finger right on it Maryanne.

Yeah, depends on the product.
If it's Saran Wrap, then I could see an issue.
If it's a hard rubber for trash cans or military aircraft tires, it probably wouldn't be as big a deal.

Of course, there's this too.

mmmmmmmm military aircraft tires

There are bad people in every business I am sure there will be those that want disease ridden cattle esp if they can make a profit. However in the US or Canada ( think i am correct on this) there would be strict penalties and fines involved. and well deserved ones. IMO
However there are many like myself that would not even entertain the idea. The US and Canada have spent a fortune to get rid of the disease.. each cattle producer spends a fortune keeping the cattle healthy and we have inspections regularly to ensure our cattle are healthy. If i have one that becomes sickly i immediately check my pastures because there are many things that grow that are poisonous to livestock or detrimental to their health creating a negative impact on the herd.. from there i load them and take them to the vet if there are 12 or more my vet visits. A disease in a herd moves quickly and it is at times devastating... causing death in all or several generations of deformed calves or just a severe illness that's expensive to deal with and hours upon hours of time with the cows/ calves/bulls that are ill.
The goal we have is to produce meat to feed america, or families and various other countries. NOT to produce diseased animals to build car parts with. The reason i think this man is looking for an alternative is because disposal of diseased carcass is expensive and it is also not something you can just dispose of on your own land.... the Gvt has very stern rules of disposal that we follow. I do not think we need this in eitehr the US or Canada.. however I have now idea abt Europe and the many 3rd world countries that do not have strict regulations.

I think people are missing the point.
During the processing of livestock there is a considerable amount of waste that goes to the landfill, it is not just diseased animals.
We need to be more efficient and utilize our waste stream.

We could understand now why so many meat eaters are so mad here.
.

alot of waste meat goes into your hamburger meat and hot dogs .. lips all sorts icky stuff
They are finding a fair amount of ways to dispose of them back for human or pet consumption
bones are processed for the bones you see at the pet shops... alot of innards and etc are in processed dog food.... we eat the primary ones already.. tongues,kidneys, brains, testicles, etc etc. Hides have been used for loads of stuff ....the fat is sold for suett for birds.. There isn't the waste you think there is. One of the plants we use for processing burns whats left over.. dunno why i just know they do and no i have no idea i guess eyeballs blood stuff like that
My advice do not eat hot dogs and get your roast and things ground down for hamburger meat.

We need some picture now.

I could but it would make for more vegans in the world

I live in the land of Alberta beef... here in Calgary there are several plants/slaughter houses and trust me, they truck plenty to the land fill.

This was what caught my attention.

I'm not sure if it means "mad cow" waste or if it's just normal waste.
Either way, it seems like turning thousands of tonnes (tons) of waste into thousands of tons of product is a much better way to handle that waste.

I doubt farmers would cultivate disease, since it wouldn't be as profitable as healthy cattle.

It all just depends on the profit margin. Some recycled materials are worth less than the cost of recycling them. It may be more cost-effective to just dump the waste rather than to use it.

In the short term and personally, true.
But in the long term, and socially, not so much.

Tout giggles.
please please just for the hot dogs eaters....

Now I want a hot dog!
*Grumble*

Hello Mister Frenzy nice to see you again.....

How's this instead?