Pet Supplies Plus, Wag N’ Wash celebrate in-store recycling milestone

LIVONIA, MICH. — Following the establishment of a partnership with TerraCycle in October 2023, pet retailers Pet Supplies Plus and Wag N’ Wash announced April 22 they have collected and recycled approximately 3.5 tons of pet product packaging waste. The retailers set up in-store receptacles to allow consumers to return packaging waste from pet food, treat and litter products, which was then collected, cleaned, separated and recycled by TerraCycle.

“We are blown away by how many neighbors came into our stores and contributed to saving 3.5 tons of plastic from being poured into landfills over the past six months,” said Chris Rowland, chief executive officer of Pet Supplies Plus and Wag N’ Wash. “The partnership with TerraCycle is our commitment to reducing waste so that our neighbors and pets can all live in a better world.”

It’s been estimated that pet industry packaging waste amounts to 300 million lbs of plastic per year, of which 99% ends up in landfills rather than recycling streams. This is due in part to lack of access and education among consumers about how and where to recycle such materials.

“Most pet food and treat bags are not accepted by curbside recycling services due to their complex, multilayer packaging, which is often too expensive for local recycling facilities to process,” said Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle. “As the first major pet retailers in the United States to offer a free recycling program for all brands of pet food packaging, Pet Supplies Plus and Wag N’ Wash are setting a great example for the rest of the pet retail industry.”

Pet Supplies Plus and Wag N’ Wash offer in-store recycling programs free-of-charge to customers across its store network. Learn more about the program on Pet Supplies Plus’s website here, or on Wag N’ Wash’s website here.

Read more about sustainability efforts across the pet food and treat industry.