Best Friends Pets has joined premium pet nutrition brand Royal Canin’s recycling program in partnership with TerraCycle.

As the first retail partner on board the program, Best Friends Pets will help push Royal Canin closer to its recycling target of 20,000kg of packaging diverted from landfill before the end of 2021.

With more than 55 million pet food products sold last year in Australia alone, the Royal Canin Recycling Program launched in response to the large number of pet-food packaging finding its way into landfill.

Royal Canin Pacific general manager, Matt Foster said the Program underpins the brand’s wider goal to provide a sustainable future for pets, people and the planet.

“Without a doubt, pets play such an important role and improve our lives in so many ways. Our mission at Royal Canin is to create a better world for pets through health, nutrition and responsible pet ownership,” he said.

“The pet food industry is one of the largest industries in the country, however much of this pet food packaging can end up in landfill as most of these products cannot be recycled through kerbside recycling collection.

“This program, a first of its kind in the industry, is working to reduce this environmental impact while also connecting pet owners and pets with their local pet professionals such as veterinarians and pet experts.”

Best Friends Pets and My Pet Warehouse CEO, Tamalin Morton said that the company was excited to be rolling out the program across Best Friends Pets and Our Vet locations nationwide.

“Many of our pet owners are conscious of their environmental footprint and we’re proud to be working with Royal Canin to reduce the impact that pet food packaging has on our environment,” he said.  

“The program has only just launched in our stores, but we’re already seeing a positive response from pet owners. TerraCycle’s closed loop recycling method that turns recycled packaging into reusable items such as park benches, dog-agility equipment, bowls and more, is something we’re excited to see come to life over the course of this program.”