Pilot Program for Recycling Pet Food Bags

摘要

Earth Animal is the program brand sponsor of Flex Forward, an ongoing pilot program that is testing how retailers and consumers engage in the collection and recycling of plastic pet food bags. Led by the Pet Sustainability Coalition, the pilot is still underway, but all signs are pointing to a growing demand by consumers and the retailers, says Melissa Bauer, director of sustainability at the Pet Sustainability Coalition. In 2019, we did a feasibility study where we found that each year in the U.S., 300 million pounds, or 99 percent of all pet food and treat bags in the U.S., are disposed to landfill rather than recycled. Currently, nearly all pet food and snack bags are made by co-extruding and laminating multiple layers of film plastics into a multilayer sandwich structure to form the package. Each layer performs a different functional purpose, and it is nearly impossible to separate layers from each other with the current state of recycling technology. It is a big problem. So, our regional pilot is testing the collection, recyclability, and full-circle product potential to inform an industry-wide expansion later.