The rendering industry is one of the oldest recycling industries, and made possible the development of a large food industry. The industry takes what would otherwise be waste materials and makes useful products such as fuels, soaps, rubber, plastics, etc. At the same time, rendering solves what would otherwise be a major disposal problem. As an example, the United States annually recycles more than 21 million metric tons of highly perishable and noxious organic matter. In 2004, US industry produced over 8 million metric tons of products, of which 1.6 million metric tons were exported.