SPONSORED BY
Pets at Home Leads Recycling Revolution Nationwide pet store first to install special recycling points for flexible pet food packaging • The UK’s leading pet care business paves the way in recycling flexible plastic pet food packaging • 40 Pets at Home stores are trialing the new service • Initiative backed by pet food producers Mars and Nestle In an industry first, nationwide pet care business Pets at Home is leading the way by introducing dedicated recycling points for flexible pet food packaging. The new initiative, which is being supported by pet food producers Mars and Purina PetCare, aims to combat flexible packaging waste in the sector, tackling the pet food packaging made of these materials. Pets at Home has partnered with environmental charity Hubbub to run the trial, which has so far been rolled out across 40 stores and three Vets4Pets practices in the UK. Following the trial, the initiative will be rolled out wider across the country with the aim of having recycling points in the majority of Pets at Home stores by the end of next year. Working with specialist recycler Enval, who have developed a microwave induced pyrolysis process which easily recycles and recovers flexible, rigid and complex plastics, Pets at Home and its partners are establishing the first store take-back and recycling scheme specifically for pet food packaging. The process, which is a world-first solution to recycling flexible plastics, involves heating the packaging up to 600 degrees to separate the aluminium and plastics layers. The aluminium is recovered, clean and ready to be 8 | www.christiesdirect.com
Pets at Home take the lead - introducing recycling points for pet food packaging
recycled and the plastic is converted into oils and gases. The oils can then be reused for other products and in fact Enval is now working with several plastic producers who are aiming to use them as feedstock for new plastic, with the ambition of achieving full circularity. The gases on the other hand are used in a conventional gas generator to produce the electricity to run the microwaves, thereby making the process self-sustaining. By using electricity to heat up the process it means that the Enval plant doesn’t have a stack or chimney making it clean, efficient and economical for both post-
consumer and industrial waste. Flexible plastics (plastic that can be bent, squeezed or scrunched) represents a quarter of all UK consumer plastic packaging but only 4% is currently recycled. Louise Stonier, Chief People and Culture Officer at Pets at Home, said: “We are really excited to be able to offer this recycling service as we know it is important to make it convenient for our customers to return their used packaging when they come to our pet care centres. This is all part of “Our Better World Pledge” to create a better world for pets and the people who love them “
