Which Cat Food Pouches Are Recyclable?

The most straightforward response that can be given is this – most of the cat food pouches are recyclable. But, this depends on the material that they are made of. Most manufacturers of cat food use pouches that are made of a type of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET. This packaging type is fast becoming the primary material of choice. 

At the surface, nations use billions of dollars annually to look after their beloved furry friends. Underneath the surface, there are millions of emptied pet food pouches that are filling the land. Consequently, environmental issues come up.

Although the material that makes pet food pouches – PET – is recyclable, the bags are not recycled widely. Some bags are like crisp packets and coffee cups – they are made of multiple materials that make it practically impossible for recycling to be done.

In this article, I will attempt to address the issues in and around cat food pouch recycling. Also, I will open you to some ideas you can use for home recycling. They will help to take care of both your pet and the planet.

Drop-Offs: Development In Cat Food Pouch Recycling   

In parts of Europe, there have been developments in cat food pouch recycling, and you will know how it works in this section.

Companies that manufacture cat food are partnering up to create recycling programs. My intercontinental research brought to me knowing that there are two ways into these kinds of programs. The findings were based on the United Kingdom, and thus, they may or may not be running in the United States.

The first one is dropping off your empty cat food pouch at a near and public drop-off location. You can talk to your manufacturer and ask them to connect you to the place. There and during the opening hours, you can leave your flexible plastic bags and food pouches.

The other way is to show your interest in the manufacturer of your brand. You can look up their details in the food pouch. Then, you can make contact with them and tell them to set up a drop-off location. This way, any pet owner using the brand will get a place to leave the waste.

Ten Ways To Reuse Your Cat Food Packaging

In this section, the focus is on reusing. You are a pet owner, and you’ve probably been that way for a long time. By now, you have piles of pet food pouches stacking up. If you have different pets at home, the stacks of empty food bags are trying to pull off a mount Everest.

Instead of heaping the packaging up and trashing them, you can save money on other places by creating functional pieces.

In this read, you will go through ten nifty ideas that range from upholstery to making aprons. Indeed, you will find something you love. Get to it.

1. A Tablecloth Made Of Feed-Bag Patchwork

An outdoor tablecloth is an excellent way to fix up any pet food packaging that seems useless. When you sew well, you will develop an eye-catching item that will draw clients to your garage sale.

Also, the tablecloth will be a good injection into outdoor gatherings and camping. Remember that the pouches are water-resistant, and cleaning them is not a hustle. You can find a sewing tutorial online.

2. Making Gift-Wrap Bags

When people start to prep for holidays, you can join in – cat food pouch style. Families organize festivities and do decorations, and so, houses get messy because of all the clutter that builds up from the gift-wrapping material.

So, you can reduce the holiday chaos by sewing up a gift-wrap station. This will make those cat pouches look even more adorable in the shape of a bag. You will only need a handful of pockets to get the gift-wrap organizer formed. You can sell these bags and make people’s lives easier. 

3. Sewing An Apron 

This will work well if you love spending time in the garden. If you do, you know that things can get messy, and you already have an apron. When fall sets in, it brings mud and rain.

You can repurpose your cat food pouches and more pet packaging items to create a waterproof apron. Apart from the material to be recycled, you will also need strips of material that will work as the waist ties.

You only need basic sewing skills, and at the end of a few minutes, you and your sewing machine will create the apron. It may be uncomfortable to hose it on and off at first, but you will get the hang of it.

4. Making A Tote Bag

I’m sure you already know what a tote bag is. Now, imagine having made it out of those cat food pouches lying around your house. So, you can turn the pet packaging around into a charming bag. You can use it to carry pet bowls and toys, and cleaning them is easy – you will only need a few spray-offs.

To get models that you can build up from, rush to Etsy and pick out some likable tote bags. Also, you can educate yourself on how to make them through online tutorials.

5. A Hanging-Compartment Organizer 

By using a few pet food bags and a couple of plastic placemats plus a small hanger, you can create a customer organizer. This DIY and upcycling is beautiful in the sense that you can make things to fit your needs perfectly. This item can be fixed in a cinch, and you will love how valuable food bags can be.

6. Seat Cover

If you don’t like how your seat covering looks, you can inject a little country flair by doing some repurposing with your pet food bags. Since your chairs will have waterproof material, cleaning them will be easy because the mess will be bearable.

It would be audacious to use plastic seat covers for indoor furniture. So, use pet food packaging and make fantastic cushions for any furniture you have outdoors.

7. Christmas Stockings

How merry will Christmas be when you involve your cat food pouches in making the stockings? The answer is – more delighted than cheerful! If you’re a novice sewer, this is the perfect project for you. What you need is:

a) A feeding bag/pouch per stocking

b) A lace strip

c) Your sewing machine

Looking online and know how to make a repurposed Christmas stocking using feedbags.     

8. A Lunch Sack

Do you carry your lunch in plastic bags? Well, why don’t you make use of your pet cat pouches? There is no need to have your food around with expensive bags.

9. Growing Bags

For a long time, people with gardening have been repurposing cans to grow their seeds and seedlings. Those cat food bags can be made into valuable items in the garden.

The good thing with these ideas is that you won’t have to sew a lot. You only need to fill the pouch with soil, seeds, and water. Once you do, the moisture will get the seeds growing, and they will sprout out of the pocket to get sunlight.

10. Nifty Wallets

If you know the basics in sewing and the right eye for style, jump into and make good-looking wallets. The outcome will be slim items that will fit your pockets nicely. 

The Material Used In Cat Food Packaging

Petfood packaging takes different forms. The table that follows will highlight some of the materials. Once you identify the one used to make your cat’s food pouch, you can know how to work your way around recycling.

No.	Type Of Material	Abbreviation	The Number Inside The Triangle That Indicates It	Can Be Recycled/Rarely recycled/Difficult To Recycle/Never Recycled
1.	Polyethylene Terephthalate	PETE	1	Can be recycled
2.	High-density Polyethylene	HDPE	2	Can be recycled
3.	Polyvinylchloride	PVC	3	Rarely recycled
4.	Low-density Polyethylene	LDPE	4	Rarely recycled
5.	Polypropene	PP	5	Rarely recycled
6.	Polystyrene	PS	6	Difficult to recycle
7	Others:AcrylicPolycarbonatePoly actic fiberNylonFiberglass	OTHER	7	Never recycled

Solutions To Reduce Cat Food Packaging Waste 

This section is a little out of the business of this article. When recycling proves undoable, you can reduce – you know – reuse, reduce, recycle!

Go through and see some three ways you can reduce cat food packaging waste:

1. Switch Your Pet’s Diet Into A Healthy-Weight One. In the United States, pet obesity and obesity, in general, are massive problems. So, how do you reduce weight by addressing the too-much weight issue? Once you feed your cat less food, you will use fewer resources. This means that you will not have a lot of cat food waste.

2. Do Away With Commercial Foods. You already have plastic waste from your home food. All commercial foods have packaging – be it dry or canned food. Once you go for something like home-cooked food or a raw diet, you will have little cat food waste to deal with. There are good raw cat food diets you can find online. Whichever food plan you choose, ensure that you consult your vet.

3. If Yours Is To Buy Food, Ensure That You Get It In Bulk. Buying little pieces means having more waste, and that is why this idea is viable. This helps to cut down on packaging, and this, you will not have many cat food pouches or cans lying all over.