Dog food manufacturers are now more concerned about their environmental impact. Recyclable dog food containers are becoming more popular due to this trend.
In particular, transparent windows (made of plastic) in pet food containers have grown in popularity. However, recycling is made more difficult by these panels.
A growing trend in this type of pet food packaging interferes with recycling pet food containers.
Why Are Dog Food Bags Not Recyclable?
The numerous layers of plastic, paper, and foil in pet food bags make recycling difficult. The bag is not recyclable as a whole.
While plastic and metal containers have taken over the dry pet food packaging business, paper bags continue to be the most popular option.
Paper bags with clear plastic windows, on the other hand, make recycling more complicated and time-consuming.
What’s the Most Common Material for Dog Food Bags?
Often, pet food producers employ materials to make strong, lightweight packaging for their dog food, which may be handy. Still, it’s typically fairly awful for the environment due to their practices.
Polypropylene, polyester, paperboard, and polyethylene, for example, are all common ingredients in various dog food products.
Polypropylene is one of manufacturers’ most often utilized lightweight plastic packaging materials since it lowers logistical and material costs.
Polypropylene is recyclable plastic, but that doesn’t always mean it’s environmentally beneficial when other, more natural packaging options exist that are considerably less harmful to our already overfilled garbage disposals.
Also read: Are Cat Food Cans Recyclable?
What to Do with Your Dog’s Food Bags?
Depending on the municipality, there may be varying rules for how households should dispose of garbage and recycling, such as weekly curbside pickup of ‘wheelie’ bins, or residual waste containers.
It’s good to start by finding out what materials your local council will accept for recycling and what may be discarded.
Residents in Leicestershire, for example, have access to a list of recyclables and non-recyclables from the recycling organization ‘less waste’.
It is impossible to recycle biodegradable and compostable plastics because they contaminate other recyclable materials. In contrast, you may recycle bioplastics and other plant-based products.
Can I reuse the dry dog food bags?
It might not be easy to be environmentally conscious and a pet lover simultaneously.
For pet-food bags, recycling frequently boils down to what material the bag is manufactured from and what your local garbage collector or recycling drop-off program accepts.
Polypropylene, paperboard, and mixed plastics are used for packaging dry pet food (polyethylene and polyester).
Pet food makers increasingly use flexible plastic materials such as polypropylene because they are more durable than paper, lighter to transport, and keep the food fresher.
Most curbside recycling programs do not accept this material since many facilities cannot sort it. If the paper bag is strengthened with a plastic covering, it may not be recyclable.
The dry food bag isn’t recyclable if you can’t rip it apart. You can recycle plastic pet food bags if they are clean and dry so as not contaminated by any liquids.
Recycling plastic pet food bags can be difficult, but that may not always be the case.
Many pet food firms participate in a research collaboration with other product and packaging makers aimed at making recyclable pet food bags.
Members and organizations collaborate with community recyclers to discover a means to cost-effectively separate and market flexible plastic resin, through novel separation technologies, process reconfigurations, and new equipment installation.
According to preliminary research, manufacturers might improve the sorting technology to handle flexible plastic packaging, and this can be achieved by opening up a brand new source of recyclable materials.
Even the steel-aluminum cans used for wet pet food, litter containers, and the boxes and trays used for canned variety packs are all recyclable, which is a good thing.
Why Is Eco-Friendly Packaging for Dog Food the Next Big Thing?
Eco-friendly packaging for dog food isn’t just a dream; it’s now a reality in the UK and throughout the world.
Especially when supplying a global market necessitates plastics and other environmentally unfriendly packaging materials, major pet food producers can be hesitant to adapt to new trends.
In 2017, paper bags were the most common packaging for pet food, although plastic rose in popularity.
Paper bags for dry kibble accounted for the majority of the $3.6 billion in pet food packaging sales in 2017, according to Packaged Facts.
Pet food and treatment dominated this market (86% of sales). Packaged Facts details their findings on the pet food packaging market in their research.
There was a 31% share of the dry pet food packaging market. Dry pet food packaging sales are dominated by bags, at over 80%.
Dry kibble pouches have become more popular. Packaging Facts says that pouches provide a sense of luxury to premium pet meals.
At 60% of the market, paper bags are the most frequent material, but plastic is on the rise.
For dry food applications, the usage of plastic for premium and ultra-premium pet food brands will likely eclipse paper in value over the next five years, according to Packaged Facts analysts in the executive summary of the research.
The market for wet pet food packaging was 28 percent of the total. Containers for pet treats accounted for 27% of the market for pet food packaging.
Wet pet food was commonly packaged in cans. Pouches came in second place in terms of popularity. Plastic trays have been steadily gaining market share over the past many years.
Plastic containers have grown increasingly popular, particularly for raw and chilled pet food.
Is Paper Packaging Always the Right Choice?
Your dog’s food being packaged in a paper-based bag doesn’t mean it’s recyclable, even if you think it is. According to a simple rule of thumb, recyclable products are straightforward to dismantle by hand.
Recyclable bags that are difficult to rip apart should be disposed of in the residual trash container.
A Collapsible Dog Bowl You Can Make at Home
Materials:
- Four Velcro tabs
- Transparent tape
- Pet Food Bag
Tools:
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Pen or marker
Instructions:
- Begin with a new bag of pet food. Measure the package’s breadth after it has been flattened. To ensure that the wrapper’s length and breadth are equal, measure and mark lines. It’s better to use a 10″ square or less. Follow the lines you’ve drawn with a sharpie.
- Draw a line 2 inches from the square’s edge on all four sides. Make a strong fold and crease along this line. Unfold and flatten it out.
- At one of the square’s corners, fold up two sides. Create an upright triangle by folding the folded border in half diagonally using the diagonal crease. Afterward, unfold the corners by repeating this process.
- In each triangle, unfasten the Velcro tabs and attach one to each corner of the square. Check to see whether they’ll line up after they’re joined together.
- It would be best to press hook and loop fasteners together to form a bowl when folded in half. You’re ready to serve out your pet’s favorite treat in your new bowl!
How to Make a Dog Cape from a Dog Food Bag?
Materials:
- Clear packaging tape
- 14″ flat elastic in a dog food bag
Tools:
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Pen
Instructions:
- Cut off the edges of a clean pet food bag.
- A trapezoid with a bottom width of 6 inches, a top width of 4 inches, and 7.5 inches.
- Fold the thin end, about.75″ in diameter, inward.
- Tape the fold shut with a long piece of tape.
- Make a 17.5″ long length of elastic and cut it.
- Make a loop at the fold in the cape.
- Adjust the tie to the proper length for your pet.
Containers for Pet Food and Their Potential to Be Recycled
Pouches for Dog Food Made of Foil
Pouches made of aluminum foil have become popular because they are easy to seal and keep fresh food. Open them when you need to pour out some food, then shut them up.
Furthermore, they can be transported and stored in a small space. On the other hand, you can’t reuse foil food pouches because they’re not recyclable.
Cans of Dog Food
Cans have been used for packaging pet food, particularly wet food, for a long time. These cans are not only handy, but you can also recycle them.
Since steel and aluminum can be recycled, they are commonly used. You can indeed reuse metal indefinitely.
It’s also good for the environment to recycle aluminum since it prevents a lot of carbon dioxide from being emitted.
Wrapping Up
Amidst a worldwide trend toward more sustainable packaging and less single-use plastics, pet food makers appear to be doing the exact opposite.
This lack of progress is quite frustrating. Toxic waste and environmental damage will only get worse due to this.
More pet food producers should be compelled to convert to packaging materials that are less hazardous to the environment due to these issues.
Consider the materials in your dog food bag before dumping them in the garbage. It’s possible that you may be able to recycle it!
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