The Petstock Group has partnered with Royal Canin and TerraCycle to launch the Royal Canin Recycling Program at Petstock, Best Friends, Pet City and My Pet Warehouse stores nationwide, offering recycling infrastructure for all brands of pet food packaging.
Pet food tins and cardboard packaging are able to go into household recycling bins, however Australian pet owners had limited opportunities to recycle pet food soft plastic packaging, like dog and cat kibble bags and wet food pouches, until now.
While almost three-quarters (74%) of Australians think that recycling is the right thing to do, in 2023, there has been a decline in taking soft plastics to specialised recycling facilities or drop off points, down to only 16% of Australians surveyed in the Australian Recycling Behaviour Report (compared with 29% in 2022).
The Petstock Group is offering recycling collection points, to make it easier for pet parents to bring their soft plastics back in store for recycling, to help customers access recycling infrastructure not available via their home kerbside recycling.
Working alongside Royal Canin and TerraCycle to bring it to life, Petstock Group CEO, Shane Young, says that they are thrilled to offer this service for pet owners to return in store and recycle their waste.
“Our business believes that together, we can make an impact for people, pets and the planet. We continue to explore sustainability initiatives and remain dedicated to improving both our carbon footprint, but also consider how we can support our customers to reduce their impact on the planet. We’re now making it easy for them to recycle, and they can bring their soft plastic pet food packaging in store while picking up new food and other pet goods,” he said.
Royal Canin sustainability and partnerships manager, Dean Richardson also commented on the program. “The Petstock Group has demonstrated a strong commitment to sustainability, and we are proud to welcome Petstock, Best Friends, Pet City and My Pet Warehouse stores to the Royal Canin Recycling Program, to offer customers the opportunity to recycle their pet product packaging.
“We are always looking for ways to work with like-minded businesses to improve the circular economy in pet packaging, and partnering with the Petstock Group allows us to maximise the opportunity to recycle across their network of over 220 stores.”
TerraCycle general manager of Australia and New Zealand, Jean Bailliard expressed his delight at the expansion of the program. “We are very excited that so many more Australians and New Zealanders will have access to the Royal Canin free recycling program thanks to the expansion of this program through Petstock stores.
“Because of the complex nature of the composition, pet food bags are not kerbside recyclable, and without programs like this they would end up in landfills. By providing access to a recycling option in the retail environment Petstock and Royal Canin are providing animal lovers with confidence that they are doing the right thing by their pets, and the planet.”
Once the collection boxes are full, Petstock team members will ship them to the TerraCycle, and the contents are manually sorted into different waste streams, and sent on to specialised processing facilities to be recycled into recycled raw materials. These raw materials can then be used to produce new products, such as benches, pot plants, compost bins, playgrounds, and dog agility equipment, to close the loop of the recycling journey.
Feature image: Shane & David Young of Petstock.