Pets at Home is introducing dedicated recycling points for flexible pet food packaging. The new initiative, which is being supported by pet food producers Mars and Purina PetCare, aims to combat flexible packaging waste in the sector.

The retailer has partnered with environmental charity Hubbub to run the trial, which has so far been rolled out across 40 stores and three Vets4Pets practices in the UK.

Following the trial, the initiative will be rolled out wider across the country with the aim of having recycling points in the majority of Pets at Home stores by the end of next year.

Working with specialist recycler Enval, which has developed a microwave induced pyrolysis process that easily recycles and recovers flexible, rigid and complex plastics, Pets at Home and its partners are establishing the first store take-back and recycling scheme specifically for pet food packaging.

The process involves heating the packaging up to 600 degrees to separate the aluminium and plastics layers. The aluminium is recovered, clean and ready to be recycled and the plastic is converted into oils and gases.

Louise Stonier, chief people and culture officer at Pets at Home, said: “We are really excited to be able to offer this recycling service as we know it is important to make it convenient for our customers to return their used packaging when they come to our pet care centres.

“This is all part of ‘Our Better World Pledge’ to create a better world for pets and the people who love them.”