Pig processors face £8m a year in extra costs under plan to end CO2 stunning
The UK's four governments want to ban carbon dioxide stunning of pigs after a three-year transition, and are asking the 12 slaughterhouses that use it how quickly they could switch.
By Daily Oracles News Team2 min read
Slaughterhouses that stun pigs with carbon dioxide would have to replace their systems within three years under proposals published on Monday by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The government's own assessment puts the average net direct cost to businesses at around £8m a year.
The consultation is being run on behalf of the UK government and the administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It opened on 26 October and closes on 21 December.
Who is affected
The change would fall on a small number of large operators. According to Defra's impact assessment, 12 slaughterhouses in the UK use high-concentration carbon dioxide: eight in England, one in Scotland and three in Northern Ireland, with none in Wales. Between them they handle about 9.7 million pigs a year.
The method has become the industry standard because it is cheap and fast. In England and Wales its share of pigs slaughtered rose from about half in 2011 to 90% in 2024. Pigs are lowered into a pit of the gas in a rotating carousel of cages, and the government says independent evidence shows they suffer panic and breathing difficulty before losing consciousness.
The proposed replacements are argon gas and automated electrical stunning, which the government says can match the throughput of existing lines.
What it costs
The government's preferred option is a ban after a three-year transition. The consultation also asks whether two years would be workable, and the impact assessment models four and five-year periods as well. Under the three-year option, the average net direct cost to business is estimated at £8m a year, within a range of £6m to £16m.
The figures per pig are where the government and the industry diverge. Defra estimates that moving to argon would add 87p per pig, a 59% rise on its estimate of current costs. Analysis published in March by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board put today's carbon dioxide cost much lower, at 42p per pig, and estimated that argon would add £1.07. That study also warned of the cost of closing lines while new equipment is fitted, the need for more holding space if throughput slows, and a risk that more pork would be imported.
Defra says the slaughter stage is a small part of the cost of pork, at less than 1% of the £234 a slaughterhouse receives for a typical carcase, and it does not expect a significant shift towards imports if capacity is maintained. It has said it will use the consultation to collect better evidence on gas prices.
Supply risk
The government also points to security of supply. Concerns about carbon dioxide shortages linked to conflict in the Middle East earlier this year showed how exposed the food chain is to the gas, and ending its use for pig stunning would reduce that dependence.
Once the consultation closes, ministers will decide the length of the transition. The government has said businesses would be given time to plan, gain planning permission and install new systems before any ban took effect.
