Process and apparatus for treating waste material incorporating lipid containing material to recover the lipid

A process for recovering tallow from a meat material, comprising:

• reducing the meat material to particulate form,
• conveying the meat material continually through a process chamber containing superheated steam and which is substantially free from oxygen so that the superheated steam contacts the particulate material to subject the meat material to superheated steam at a temperature above 220° C. for a period of time effective to liquefy and separate from the meat material a major amount of the tallow naturally occurring in the meat material, but not vaporize said amount of tallow, and
• recovering the liquefied and separated tallow naturally occurring in the meat material, in a liquid state separately from the meat material, while the superheated steam remains in a vapour state and entrains in the superheated steam water in the meat material.