PSC Welcoming Companies to Make Sustainable Packaging Pledge

Pet companies can sign-on to the Pet Sustainability Coalition Packaging Pledge, a program to support pet companies to move to recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by 2025.

The PSC program provides benefits to support pet brand signatories and manufacturers including:

• A vetted marketplace housing pre-qualified packaging suppliers that meet Ellen MacArthur requirements.
• Marketing assets including signatory badges, social media and exclusive promotion opportunities.
• Tools including packaging life cycle analysis, the Recycling Partnership’s Plastic IQ, How2Recycle labeling support and packaging design guidelines.
• Ongoing and consistent legislative updates and education.
• Business case data set designed to pitch to company decision makers.
• Peer working groups to share successes and challenges for accelerated progress.

Early this past summer at SuperZoo, Canidae, Earth Animal, Instinct, Petcurean and Primal Pet Foods publicly signed on to the new program.

The PSC Packaging Pledge builds from the momentum of other sustainable packaging successes including Flex Forward, the return-to-retail pilot program that collected more than 8,000 lbs of post-consumer packaging for recycling trials, completed in 2022. Testing trials resulted in a better understanding of the challenges presented by the current composition of most pet food packaging including the wide variation of packaging types, various multi-material closures, food grade barriers, metallic layers and wide color assortments. While packaging ranks among the top three most important sustainability issues facing the pet industry, the majority of pet companies rely on part-time staff, inadequate tools, resources and support to advance their packaging toward more sustainable outcomes.

Starting in 2018, the Pet Sustainability Coalition became the first organization to unify the industry toward defined solutions including increasing the use of recyclable packaging, recommending the use of clear consumer labeling, testing end-of-life possibilities and retail collections, and now the PSC Packaging Pledge will provide a long-term pathway to sustainable packaging including tools, a marketplace and technical support for brands to feasibly meet their public commitment.

Click here to sign on.