Utilization of Slaughterhouse Waste in Value-Added Applications: Recent Advances in the Development of Wood Adhesives

Globally, slaughterhouses generate large volumes of animal byproducts. While these byproducts are an important resource of industrial protein that could potentially be utilized in various value-added applications, they are currently either underutilized in high-value applications or being used for production of relatively low-value products such as animal feed and pet food. Furthermore, some of the byproducts of animal slaughtering cannot enter food and feed chains and thus their disposal possesses a serious environmental concern. An innovative utilization of the proteinaceous waste generated by slaughterhouses comprises of waste processing to extract proteins, which are then incorporated into industrial processes to produce value-added bio-based products. In this report, we review the current processes for extraction of protein from proteinaceous waste of slaughterhouses, and utilization of the recovered protein in the development of protein-based wood adhesives.