VN helps launch ‘purrfect’ cat food pouch recycling scheme

A vet nurse at a dedicated cat clinic has helped launch a campaign to prevent thousands of cat food pouches ending up in landfill each month.

Independently owned SimplyCats Vet Clinic – based in Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland – has joined forces with TerraCycle and is urging cat owners throughout the region to bring in their empty pet food pouches.

Innovative

RVN Lucy Rose-Smith kickstarted the innovative recycling scheme after discovering her cat-loving team throws away more than 4,300 plastic food pouches a year.

Instead of them going to landfill, she decided to set up one of only three collection points in north-east England.

‘Simple changes’

Mrs Rose-Smith said: “Our team absolutely loves cats – between us we have 16. But until recently, it had never really struck me how much of our pet food packaging goes to landfill.

“I’m conscious that we need to look after our environment and at SimplyCats Vet Clinic we always strive to limit our carbon footprint. By making some simple changes, we can all make a difference.”

Pouch collecting station

Mrs Rose-Smith’s colleagues at the practice – which has achieved the highest possible Gold Cat Friendly Clinic status for six years running – were keen to get behind her campaign to dramatically reduce the waste.

The pet food pouch collecting station is up and running, and cat owners throughout the area can drop off rinsed out and dried packaging to be sent for recycling.

‘Sustainable choice’

Mrs Rose-Smith added: “Cats provide wonderful companionship, but the amount of waste going to landfill from their food is shocking. We had to act to give cat owners a more sustainable choice.”

In the first week of launching the campaign, the SimplyCats Vet Clinic team collected 1kg of cat food pouches, and this is continually increasing.

For more information about the pet food pouch recycling scheme, visit the SimplyCats Vet Clinic website or telephone 0191 385 9696.