Waste bacon fat produced by TMI Foods in Northampton is being used to create bio-diesel for use as an alternative fuel in continental Europe .

TMI produces 10 million rashers of cooked bacon a week, and the fat lost during the bacon cooking process is collected, separated, filtered and further processed for use as fuel.

“We are very conscious of environmental issues and work closely with Civil and Environmental, a company that provides effluent treatment and by-product recovery systems throughout the food industry,” said TMI’s Managing Director David Abbott.

“We invested in a state-of-the-art effluent treatment plant five years ago, because the wastewater we produce has a high fat content.  Apart from the significant cost reduction benefits on but waste, the overall environmental benefit has been considerable.”

Bacon fat has a combustible nature, making it an ideal component in modern bio-fuels.  Bio-diesel is an alternative, environmentally safe and low polluting renewable fuel used for most diesel internal combustion and turbine engines.

The bio-diesel produced from TMI’s bacon fat is believed to be used as a fuel in power stations across continental Europe .