Insights & Innovations

California’s LCFS Reset + Pet-Food Label Overhaul: What U.S. Renderers Need to Do Now

By, Rendering University

April 07, 2025

What changed

1. California’s LCFS amendments are now in force (effective July 1, 2025) with tighter carbon-intensity (CI) benchmarks for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Credit math for Q3–Q4 2025 reporting follows the amended tables, affecting the value stack for tallow- and UCO-based fuels supplied into California.
2. Pet food labels are modernizing. AAFCO’s Pet Food Label Modernization (PFLM) is rolling out via state adoptions with a six-year transition after publication in the 2024 Official Publication—impacting ingredient statements, storage/handling icons, and consumer-facing clarity. Suppliers to pet food brands should expect new documentation requests and artwork checks as states adopt.

Why it matters to renderers

1. Credit yield + offtake mix. The LCFS step-down in CI benchmarks can improve credit generation for lower-CI feedstocks and pathways, pulling more tallow/UCO toward West Coast demand—if producers can prove, meter, and report CI reductions consistently.
2. Feedstock utilization is real. EIA’s monthly feedstock series shows hundreds of millions of pounds of tallow, yellow grease, and white grease consumed by U.S. biofuel producers—evidence that fats are embedded in the fuels complex even as policy and capacity swing.
3. Pet food is the quality anchor. PFLM doesn’t change specs, but it raises labeling discipline downstream; that tends to cascade upstream into documentation, COAs, and handling instructions for pet-food-grade fats and meals. Expect more uniform requests around naming, claims, and usage directions.

Plant & quality implications (shop-floor view)

1. Meet premium specs consistently. Pet-food customers will scrutinize MIU on fats and low-ash targets on meals; keep polishing trains tight: centrifuge → filtration → finished-product tanks before loadout.
2. Refine when required. For demanding outlets, apply deodorization (high-temp steam under vacuum) and, where needed, bleaching/clarification (e.g., diatomaceous earth/activated clays) to hit organoleptic and color targets.
3. Control bone/mineral carryover. Use vibratory classifiers, air/gravity separation, and centrifugal decanters; some lines add enzymatic/chemical partial decalcification or differentiated cooking to minimize ash and improve meal quality.
4. Validate lethality and separation. Standard rendering ranges—~115–145 °C, ~3–5 bar, ~40–90 min—are there to sterilize, denature, and split streams (fat vs. crax) to spec. Document parameters and corrective actions lot-by-lot.

Commercial takeaways

1. Re-optimize the destination mix. With LCFS tighter and jet fuel pathways active in the regulation text, reassess West Coast vs. Gulf outlets for tallow/UCO; CI bookkeeping accuracy is now a margin lever.
2. Align pet-food documentation early. Build a PFLM-ready pack (spec sheets, handling icons, storage statements, ingredient naming conventions) to help brand owners maintain compliant labels during the transition.
3. Watch capacity/cycle signals. U.S. renewable-diesel capacity has shown volatility; pair EIA feedstock reports with LCFS credit curves before locking long-dated biofuel offtake tied to fats.

What to monitor next (Q4 2025)

1. LCFS credit trends vs. CI improvements at the plant and supply-chain level.
2. State-by-state PFLM adoption, artwork/label change calendars at your customers.
3. Monthly EIA feedstock updates for shifts between veg oils and waste fats/greases.

Quick checklist for rendering managers

1. Keep MIU and ash within customer spec; confirm centrifuge + filter performance pre-loadout.
2. Maintain validated cook parameters (T/P/time) and batch records.
3. Enable deodorization/bleaching capability for premium SKUs as required by COAs.