Team:Edinburgh/Human Practices/Stakeholder
Stakeholders engagement
We decided to interview Ms. Katie Phillips, the owner of the local business Pasture Poultry regarding the keratin waste problem. This poultry farm kindly provided us with a source of feathers for our experiments. The interview was conducted via Microsoft teams. We were particularly interested in the process by which chicken feathers are disposed of. Pasture Poultry is based in the Scottish Borders where the owner Katie rears free range and corn-fed chicken with low stocking densities along with high welfare practices on her farm.
Recycle or not?
Indeed the owner recycles the chicken feathers (keratin) as she is obliged by Scottish regulations to deal with waste in a responsible manner. However, it is not an obligation for her to specifically recycle the waste as this does not bring her any benefits. However, she collaborates with a recycling company in getting rid of her waste to promote a positive image of environmental awareness which is associated with her farm.
How is the waste recycled?
The waste is sent to a recycling company where all she has to do is dispose of it in a special bin bag provided by the company where it will be sent off to a recycling company, in this case which is ‘Keenan recycling Ltd’ - will help deal with the recycling. The link to the web page of this company is: https://www.keenanrecycling.co.uk/.
Keenan recycling Ltd is a company that promotes the benefits of recycling insoluble materials such as keratin and convert those into valuable products. https://www.keenanrecycling.co.uk/food-waste-collections/
Would it be practical if a separate waste bin for keratin was provided?
Katie did not think it would be a hassle as she believes in sustainability and recycling.
What impact would it make if keratin can be transformed into a valuable product?
Katie said that she will feel good about this. She will feel more satisfied if the waste can be converted into something beneficial.
After this interview, our team has not only learned that our SuperGrinder design can help tackle the real-world problem, but also give suggestions on how to refine our SuperGrinder design. We were unable to get in touch with any large scale industrial poultry farmers unfortunately, as they may have provided some interesting insights into logistics and economic feasibility of waste separation that contrast with Katie's enthusiastic opinions in support of sustainable waste management innovations.
Free-range chicken farm from Lifehacker.au