Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Maple Leaf Foods is probably familiar to most members of the committee. We're the largest food processor, employing 24,000 people in operations across Canada. One of our key operating companies is Rothsay, which is Canada's largest recycler of animal by-products into value-added products, including animal feed, amino acid supplements, biodiesel, and many other industrial products for the oleochemical industry.
We provide, through Rothsay, an essential service and an environmentally efficient process for managing the collection, processing, and capturing of value of edible and inedible by-products. Finished products are sold in both domestic and international markets. Approximately 25% of what Rothsay processes comes from Maple Leaf's own meat processing operations.
Ron Wardrop is director of marketing and product development for Rothsay and was instrumental in the launch of our biodiesel plant in Montreal, which was opened last year. It's the first commercial-scale biodiesel plant in Canada.
I'll ask Ron to say a few words.