Harbin plans to construct four livestock rendering plants to prevent pollution and disease spreading across the countryside in Heilongjiang province, according to Harbin Daily.

The region in Northeast China is one of the country’s major agricultural centers, with over 70 million head of livestock in the area around Harbin as of the end of 2015, according to government statistics released in March 2016. Disposing of livestock has therefore become a major challenge.

The four plants are expected to be constructed in Acheng, Shuangcheng, Bayan and Fangzhen districts, while a rendering plant for urban areas will be constructed in Harbin by 2019.

Harbin city government published a plan for the disposal of livestock and poultry earlier this year. The plan encourages contributions from the private sector in funding the construction of new rendering plants.

The plan also requires every county containing more than 50 million poultry to build at least one rendering plant by the end of 2017.