Texan by Nature is excited to recognize Darling Ingredients as a 2022 TxN 20 honoree for their leadership in conservation and sustainability. Darling Ingredients’ commitment to conservation, their projects, programs, best practices, and lessons learned are an example and inspiration for us all.

Honoree Industry and Size: Agriculture – Enterprise

Company Overview: Darling Ingredients Inc. (NYSE:DAR) is the largest publicly traded company turning edible by-products and food waste into sustainable products and a leading producer of renewable energy. Recognized as a sustainability leader, the company operates more than 250 plants in 17 countries and repurposes approximately 15% of the world’s meat industry waste streams into value-added products, such as green energy, renewable diesel, collagen, fertilizer, animal proteins, and meals and pet food ingredients.

What is Darling Ingredients’ conservation and sustainability mission and why is it important to your culture?
As population growth continues to rise and wealth increases, so does the demand for food, feed, and fuel. Traditional resources are depleting, and the demand for sustainable ingredients is growing. That’s where we come in. We are committed to helping meet that demand, as we believe that nature has significantly more to offer than we currently use. We believe we can maximize the use of natural resources by continuously improving ourselves, our processes, and our products.

Our commitment to the health and safety of humans, animals, and the planet ties in firmly with our core values.  Integrity, Transparency & Entrepreneurship are values that define us as a business.  These values are the foundation of our activities, setting our path as we develop and produce sustainable solutions to support our global community.  Our purpose is to repurpose, and sustainability is part of our DNA.

How is conservation and sustainability a part of Darling Ingredients’ business strategy?
Darling Ingredients was green long before green was cool. Due to the nature of our business and management’s foresight for market trends, we view ESG as an opportunity for investors to embrace our business strategy. Darling’s purpose for nearly 140 years has been to repurpose. Now we find ourselves at the forefront and leading the decarbonization of our planet. Darling is a proud pioneer in the North American renewable diesel market, entering into a joint venture in 2011 to create Diamond Green Diesel. Renewable diesel, produced from Darling’s vertically integrated supply of waste fats and oils, reduces tailpipe emissions from the transportation industry by up to 85% compared to regular petroleum diesel. We are well positioned to capitalize on the increased demand for lower-carbon fuels as countries develop aggressive reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions. As population growth is expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050, it is expected that global meat consumption will also rise. Our factories in 17 countries repurpose nearly 15% of the world’s slaughtered animal waste streams into value-added ingredients for a growing population. Our long-term investment strategy aligns with the global transition to green infrastructure, supported by a circular economy business model.

What are Darling Ingredients’ short and long-term goals as they relate to conservation and sustainability?
In April 2021, Darling Ingredients was recognized as one of the 50 Sustainability and Climate Leaders. We’re proud of the vital role that Darling has played in carbon emissions avoidance and critical water management, contributing to our positive impact on the planet. We understand that what we produce is important, but so is how we produce it. 

Our short-term target to reduce water and energy intensity 5% by 2025, from our baseline year of 2020, is just one step toward our ambitious goal of net-zero GHG emissions and sustainable water use before 2050. We strive to maintain our leadership position in the sustainability space, driving improvements in our organization while also encouraging others to join in building a sustainable future. For nearly 140 years, Darling has been a leader in protecting the planet and creating better lives for our employees, customers and shareholders, all while providing superior financial returns.

Who in your company is leading your conservation and sustainability efforts and what are some examples of employee engagement in conservation and sustainability at your company?
Darling Ingredients’ Chairman and CEO, Randall C. Stuewe, and  Vice President of Investor Relations, Sustainability and Global Communications, Suann Guthrie ,have been integral to the company’s conservation efforts.

Cleaning La Sorgue River On Saturday June 4, 2022, the city of Isle sur la Sorgue organized a morning cleaning of the La Sorgue River, located in the South of France near Rousselot’s Isle sur la Sorgue facility. Rousselot is a company of Darling Ingredients. More than 20 employees volunteered alongside others to collect and dispose of 1.5 tons of waste from the river.

• The Chicago Parks District 

Darling Ingredients collects and donates 90,000 gallons of used cooking oil from Chicago eateries, including Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings and The Wendy’s Company. The cooking oil is then processed into biodiesel.

The Park District has used biodiesel, which burns cleaner than ordinary diesel fuel, to fuel park equipment ranging from lawnmowers to beachcombers to log loader trucks. Biodiesel can’t run in gasoline engines because it needs an engine that ignites by compression. 

2020 recycling champions

DAR PRO’s, a brand of Darling Ingredients, Florida plants were honored as 2020 Recycling Champions by the Florida Recycling Partnership.  

As members of the Florida Recycling Partnership, DAR PRO was one of five brands recognized with this award. The judging panel was a collection of graduate students at the University of Florida and they selected winners based on the criteria of innovation, communication and education among companies, organizations, government entities and individuals seen as “game changers” in the recycling industry.  

“Our team did a great job using this opportunity to showcase and increase public awareness of the many services DAR PRO Solutions provides to our partners in the community,” said Kelly Horne, Senior Vice President of Operations. “The work on this project will have a long lasting and significant impact.”

In 2019 alone, DAR PRO helped produce approximately 10.9 million gallons of renewable diesel – the equivalent of 18,181 cars removed from the road. The rendering process prevented roughly 186,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere and returned 22 million gallons of water to the environment. That’s enough to fill over 33 Olympic size swimming pools.

“Sustainability is at the core of Darling Ingredients. We fundamentally repurpose waste materials into food and fuel.  We’re proud to be honored as one of the 2022 Texan by Nature 20 because Texas has an important role to play in creating a sustainable world, and Darling Ingredients is looking to be a leader in shaping that future.”

– Ethan Carter, Director of Sustainability, Darling Ingredients 

What conservation and sustainability programs and projects does Darling Ingredients lead and participate in?
From Waste to Electricity – Darling Ingredients’ footprint in European sustainable energy increased on Feb. 25, 2022, with our acquisition of Group Op de Beeck , one of the leading organic waste and industrial by-product processing companies in Belgium. Not only is this acquisition a perfect fit for Darling’s growing presence in European sustainable energy production, but it progresses our development of bio-digestion. 

Bio-digestion, or anaerobic digestion, is a process that converts food production by-product into sustainable electricity. The process begins when waste from restaurants, slaughterhouses and the agriculture industry are collected and put in a digestion tank. In the absence of oxygen, microorganisms break down the biodegradable material. More specifically, carbohydrates and other sugars are broken down to be made more available for bacteria. The sugars and amino acids are then converted into carbon dioxide, hydrogen, ammonia and organic acids. The hydrogen, ammonia and organic acids are further converted into methane.

Bio-digestion process

The end products of bio-digestion are biogas and material used in nutrient-rich fertilizer. Biogas is a combustible material that can generate electricity and heat. This process exemplifies a “circular economy” as the heat produced is used in subsequent bio-digestion production while the electricity is used to power our facilities and surrounding communities. Our Ecoson and Rendac facilities have run on bio-digestion-generated electricity for years.

Darling Ingredients will soon be producing 163 gigawatt hours annually after the completion of its current European expansion project. But ultimately, Darling’s growing collection of resources and thought leaders will lead to production improvements, industry proliferation, and technological innovation. Just 50 years ago, food production by-products were used mainly for food, feed, and agriculture nutrients. Today, the same by-product is fueling automotive engines, and powering our homes and businesses. 

How do you see the future of conservation and sustainability evolving, and what role will Darling Ingredients play in that progress? Global population growth, climate change, increased life expectancy, and inequalities have put pressure on the natural resources that provide society with food, feed, fuel, and general well-being. Now, more than ever, we need to find viable ways to meet the needs of current and future generations. When it comes to animal agriculture, about 50% of the animal makes it to the dinner plate. The other 50% requires innovative, sustainable solutions to avoid landfills or incineration. That’s where Darling Ingredients comes in. Darling is the largest publicly traded company that takes the other 50% of the animal and turns it into valuable ingredients. We create specialty food ingredients that are used to make gelatin capsules for the pills we take, thickeners for the foods we eat and collagen peptides for protein shakes that help our hair, skin, nails, and ligaments. We sell ingredients to companies that make feed for pets and livestock like swine, cattle, turkeys, and fish. And if it can’t be fed to a human or an animal, we take those materials and make green energy. Where others see waste, we see opportunity.

How does Darling Ingredients quantify investment and return on conservation and sustainability?
Darling Ingredients’ most substantial sustainable investment has been with Diamond Green Diesel(DGD), a partnership with Valero Energy Corporation, also headquartered in Texas.

Through a 50/50 joint venture with Valero Energy Corporation, we produce renewable diesel made from waste fats and oils to serve the many developing low-carbon fuel markets around the world. This fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 85% compared to traditional fossil fuels. From an initial production capacity of 160 million gallons a year in 2018, we continue to expand to serve the growing demand for low-carbon fuel solutions. In 2021, DGD produced a total of 370 million gallons of renewable diesel. A new, third DGD facility in Port Arthur, Texas, will be completed in Q4 2022, ahead of schedule and under budget. It will bring Diamond Green Diesel’s total renewable diesel production capacity to 1.2 billion gallons per year beginning in 2023.

Why is Texas an important home or base of operations for Darling Ingredients?
Darling has made Texas its home because of the state’s culture, location, and business values. Centrally located, it provides regional, domestic, and even international logistical benefits. Darling employees love living, raising families, and working in Texas. The business environment embraces innovation and technology, and the tax burden is low compared with other states. The regulatory environment is friendly to business yet still matches the company’s philosophy of environmental stewardship.

Learn more about Darling Ingredients’ conservation and sustainability efforts here:

Our ESG report – Darling Ingredients – Corporate Social Responsibility (darlingii.com)