Packaging

Petfood packaging has a quick turnover and almost immediately ends up in the bin.  These fast-moving consumer goods, known in the trade as consumer packaged goods (or CPG’s), account for much of a household’s waste.

Cat food pouches are the worst if you ask me – the unrecyclable, eternal, pouch packet is the epitome of the throw away culture.  I know cats like their food fresh, they  are designed to eat what they have caught, little and often (hence the concept of single fresh meals), but come on!  Must every cat have every meal out of an individual eternal pouch packet? 

We try to minimise packaging waste when feeding our dogs:

• We have only just started feeding raw.  Until recently, feeding raw seemed to involve getting it delivered in a lot of plastic, lots of freezer space and the corresponding electricity – so we didn’t do it. 
• We fed wet food in tins as the metal can be recycled via a circular* recycling route. 
  • In the time we were feeding tinned meat, tins pretty much became unavailable in petshops, with non-recyclable plastic tubs and pouches being the ‘go to’ for pet food manufacturers.  I had to order tins to be delivered. 
• We now feed ‘paleoridge’ raw food (https://paleoridge.co.uk/about-us) with its biodegradable paper packaging which we compost.  Although it’s not locally produced, we buy from a local small business.  I can cycle there or pick it up when taking Spot to hydrotherapy.  We don’t need to collect much at any one time, thereby saving on freezer space and electricity.  We also feed ‘mixer’ biscuits in fully recyclable ‘mono PE’ packaging (see later).

*A circular economy is about maintaining the value of products and packaging after they have been used once, by repairing, re-purposing and recycling as much as possible to ensure material waste is minimised. The goal of a circular economy is for all materials to undergo multiple rounds of re-use and recycling. In this model, materials are not considered waste, but rather are a valuable resource to be capitalised.

We and the petfood industry need to cut down on packaging and swap to eco-friendly alternatives –

Now!

To be fair to petfood manufacturers, pet food packaging has to be food grade.  Food-grade packaging has to conform to strict health and safety guidelines making it harder to swap to more sustainable packaging than non-food products.  However, things are changing and the pandemic driven explosion of eCommerce has shaken up the industry.  For one, pet owners no longer need to carry heavy bags, making bigger, resealable bags possible.  Larger, resealable packages represent convenience and affordability for pet owners.  It is also better for the planet as bulk buying reduces packaging.  This packaging needs to be strong to withstand shipping and delivery. 

At the same time, there is a move against paper packaging.  Despite its eco- image, paper packaging isn’t ‘circular’.  New wood fibres need adding in at every recycling, meaning food-grade paper packaging uses large amounts of paper (and land).  Paper production and recycling uses (much) more energy and water and produces more co2 than plastic production.  Additionally, food-grade paper packaging requires a plastic coating on the inside to guarantee the shelf life of the product.  This plastic coating makes recycling more difficult and reduces the number of cycles. By the way, because what the ‘Paleoridge’ cardboard mentioned earlier houses is frozen, it doesn’t need additional plastic.

Certain plastics do fulfil both the stringent practical and hygienic needs for pet food, are fully recyclable and can be described as circular – provided the recycling facilities are available.  There is a new recognition that plastics are valuable and we need to treasure them rather than putting them in the sea! 

Example companies:

Yarrah (https://www.yarrah.com), who I feature in the sustainable petfood article, have opted for mono PE packaging.  Mono-PE is a high-performance protective packaging for food and drinks.  It consists of a single material, polyethylene  (or polythene) which is already compatible with existing recycling streams making it easier (and more efficient) for recycling plants to process.

However, in the UK recycling mono PE is described as ‘manageable’ on the ‘which’ recycling chart.  (LDPE or 4 on the which chart below).  Yarrah are based in the netherlands where recycling is probably more advanced.  I have to take the packaging to the coop and squeeze it into their ridiculously small plastic box.

Burns (also featured in the sustainable pet food article), have also moved away from paper packaging to plastic (https://burnspet.co.uk/recyclablepackaging) .  Burns are also aiming for a sustainable circular economy.  Rather than Mono PE they have opted for polypropylene (PP or 5 on the ‘which’ chart below).  This is easier to recycle than the mono PE in the UK, albeit not in every county.  PP can be recycled as park benches, bollards and waste bins.  I’d say to Burns, that this isn’t circular, rather it is ‘downcycling’ as it requires virgin plastic to make more Burns bags.  According to the Big Plastic count, still 30% of what we are using is virgin plastic.

I had a look at my local council website and recycling centre and was surprised to find that they didn’t seem to bother to use the internationally recognised plastics recycling symbols with the corresponding numbers that are printed (or indented) on the plastic I’m trying to recycle – see ‘which’ chart.