Boulder-based organization seeks to make pet food bags sustainable

An organization headquartered in Colorado is on a mission to make pet food more sustainable.

The bags most pet food comes in aren’t recyclable and go straight to a landfill. The Pet Sustainability Coalition, based in Boulder, is hoping to change that.

What started as a small group that included several Colorado companies has now grown into a global movement.

“We’re a nonprofit in the pet industry,” said Jim Lamancusa, the CEO of the Pet Sustainability Coalition. “We have 200 members in 18 countries. So, we’re a truly global organization, and it’s across the entire supply chain. We bring together the industry to tackle larger sustainability issues.”

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The issue they’re working toward tackling right now is the packaging that pet food comes in.

“Flexible plastic packaging is a very efficient mode of transporting pet food. The challenge is that it has an environmental impact. The pet industry produces over 300 million pounds of flexible plastic packaging every year, and 99% of it goes to the landfill.”

Lamancusa explains that Colorado has drop-offs for these types of bags at stores such as Whole Foods and King Soopers, but the bags can’t be recycled in your regular curbside can. As a result, he says, feeding an average dog produces 39 pounds of plastic packaging waste every single year. However, Lamancusa adds there’s a way to change that.

“If you use a single material like polyethylene, it can be recycled and has a lot more recycling value than if you put polypropylene and polyethylene together. So, we’re trying to educate our members.”

He says the coalition gave its members the resources and contacts to change their packaging, and some big companies have already pledged to make the switch.

Shopper with her dog at Only Natural Pet in Boulder

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“Earth Animal was a really successful packaging pledge member, and they’re very popular in the pet industry. Royal Canin went through the process. Hill’s, which is another one of the most popular pet foods in America, switched all their packaging to being recyclable.”

CBS Colorado met Lamancusa out at Only Natural Pet in Boulder, which is a founding member of the coalition. Its store manager says they’re in the midst of a rebrand for their products. That includes looking into new options for packaging. One change can make an enormous impact.