A vet clinic in the Southern Highlands has become a recycling collection hub for Royal Canin.
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Premium pet nutrition brand Royal Canin has joined forces with TerraCycle to launch a free recycling program for Aussies who can now recycle their Royal Canin and EukanubaTM pet food bags at veterinary practices across Australia.
Mittagong Vet Hospital is proud to have been selected as the recycling hub for Royal Canin products in the Southern Highlands.
TerraCycle scientists will transform the waste material into dog agility equipment, Frisbees and even park benches.
With more than 55 million pet food bags and wet-food pouches sold in 2020 alone, Australia's favourite scientific pet nutrition brand is extending its care beyond pets to looking after the planet with The Royal Canin Recycling Program in partnership with TerraCycle.
The program, which has already launched in veterinary clinics across the country, will significantly reduce the amount of pet food packaging that ends up in landfill each year.
General manager for Royal Canin Pacific Matt Foster said that the initiative underpins Royal Canin'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," he said.
"Our mission at Royal Canin is to create a better world for pets through health, nutrition and responsible pet ownership. Partnering with TerraCycle is one way we're working towards creating a better, and sustainable world, for our pets across the country.
"The pet food industry is one of the largest industries in the country, with more than 7.5 million cats and dogs in Australia alone. However, much of this pet food packaging can end up in landfill as most of these products cannot be recycled through kerbside recycling collection.
"If you imagine the average medium adult dog consumes 22 bags of dry food and 730 pouches of wet food each year, you can easily see how vast the packaging issue is in our country."
Mr Foster said the Royal Canin Recycling Program was working to reduce the environmental impact while connecting pet owners and pets with their local veterinary community.
"We've strategically partnered with vet clinics as our collection network as we strongly believe all pets should have access to veterinary health and care throughout their lives," he said.
"Our goal for our first year is to prevent 20,000kg of packaging from entering landfill and to connect many more pets with their local vet clinic."
General manager for TerraCycle Australia and New Zealand Jean Bailliard praised Royal Canin for taking responsibility and providing a sustainable solution for pet owners.
"The pet industry has grown substantially over the last year, fueled by the increase in pet adoption throughout 2020," she said.
"The majority of all pet food packaging is made from flexible plastic or multi-material packaging. These complex materials are difficult to recycle and frequently not accepted in kerbside recycling.
"It's amazing to be a part of an initiative that will make a huge difference in creating a positive future, not only for pet owners but also pets."
The Royal Canin Recycling Program has also partnered with Vision Australia's Seeing Eye Dogs, with $1 for every 1kg of packaging returned through the program to go towards the incredible and life-changing work Seeing Eye Dogs does for visually impaired Australians.
Vision Australia Seeing Eye Dogs client services manager Lester Chriam said Seeing Eye Dogs aimed to train and match more than 40 seeing eye dogs with handles in the next 12 months.
"This partnership with the Royal Canin Recycling Program will play an important part in our fundraising efforts to help ensure we can continue to support Australians who are blind or have low vision to live the life they choose," he said.
With more than 80 clinics on board around Australia, Royal Canin is inviting all of its veterinary clinic partners to join the program to help fight waste in the pet care industry.
Pet owners wishing to join the program are encouraged to sign up through the TerraCycle website and head to the program page.
You can drop-of your cleaned soft packaging waste at Mittagong Vet Hospital, 109 Main Street Mittagong NSW 2575.
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