Pet food brands take a bite out of plastic waste

There is power in numbers, which is why 20 pet food brands from the United States, Canada and New Zealand have now joined a partnership with rePurpose Global, claimed as the leading pet food platform. plastic action in the world. Result: 2,000 tons of plastic waste have been recovered from nature in the past year, which is equivalent to 111 million plastic bottles or 1 billion plastic bags.

The program has reached the milestone of 20 members — we learned that there are 15 US brands, four Canadian and one New Zealander — who have pledged to reduce plastic pollution in two ways:

• Reduce plastic in their packaging and supply chains;
• Fund the recovery of nature-related plastic waste through rePurpose Global’s social enterprise waste projects.

The pet food industry is estimated to produce 300 million pounds of plastic waste annually in the United States alone, with most packaging made from materials that are not recyclable or difficult to recycle. So 99% of all pet food packaging is thrown away rather than recycled, ending up in landfills or the oceans.

Certified Plastic Neutral and Plastic Negative brands, including Earth Animal, Nature’s Logic, Pet Finn and Animal Essentials, are fighting plastic waste while creating positive socio-economic impact for marginalized waste workers.

For example, Earth Animal is a pet health and wellness company dedicated to improving and sustaining the quality of life for animals, humans, and the earth. As a Plastic Neutral brand with rePurpose Global, Earth Animal is at the forefront of a recycling take-back program called FlexForward, a pilot program designed to support plastic packaging, recycling technologies and food collection. for pets and treat bags for recycling. It offsets the impact of its supply chain by funding the removal of as much plastic waste from nature as they use.

“Plastic is a huge problem in the pet food industry,” says Stewart Shanley, CEO of Earth Animal. “As we make strides to reduce plastic waste from our packaging and supply chain, we wanted to make an impact now. Our partnership with rePurpose Global is the first step towards systemic environmental change – funding infrastructure and empowering marginalized workers on the front lines of the plastic waste crisis, and we call on others in our industry to do the same.

The on-site video shows how RePurpose Global works in the state of Kerala in southern India.

Through this partnership, rePurpose Global is funding the recovery of critical plastic that would otherwise end up in waterways, mismanaged landfills or burned in four countries: Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya and India. These countries experience the highest rates of plastic leakage into the environment. These partnerships have expanded waste collection where infrastructure is limited while creating additional sources of income for nearly 5,000 waste workers.

“The Pet Sustainability Coalition has identified packaging pollution as one of our industry’s greatest environmental challenges,” says Melissa Bauer, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Sustainability for the Pet Sustainability Coalition. “We are delighted to see that many of our members are working with rePurpose Global to offset their packaging footprint while investing in socially equitable environmental solutions directly within the most impacted global communities.”

According to Svanika Balasubramanian, CEO and co-founder of rePurpose Global, 380 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide every year. “The majority ends up in the wild. We live in a plastic epidemic and the collective sense of urgency among pet owners and the pet industry is palpable. Now more than ever, there is a critical need for meaningful partnerships to tackle plastic pollution around the world. Our coalition of brands and consumers is moving the needle and leading the action before it’s too late.

A total of 230 brands in 26 countries and three continents are working with rePurpose Global to measure, reduce and offset their plastic footprint. The program recovers 14 million pounds of plastic from the environment each year and positively impacts more than 10,000 waste workers and their families.

To learn more about rePurpose Global, check out these 2022 articles on Plastics today: Defunkify and rePurpose Global Recover Over 41,000 Pounds of Plastic Wastepublished in March, and RePurpose Global partners with personal care brands to eliminate wastepublished in February.