Commitment for corporate social responsibility
Pet food industry stakeholders collaborate in a pilot project initiated by the European Commission to develop Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs)
The European Commission has chosen prepared pet food for dogs and cats to participate in the pilot projects to establish product environmental footprint category rules (PEFCRs) in the feed, food, drink and related sectors.
The European Pet Food Industry Federation (FEDIAF) and the volunteering partners equally participating[1] are pleased to be among the 11 sectors selected out of 30 applications. Cat and dog pet food producers are committed to corporate social responsibility: We welcome this unique opportunity to collaborate with authorities and interested stakeholders through active contribution to this sustainability-related project covering the full life cycle of our products.
Single Market for Green Products
The pet food PEFCR pilot is part of the environmental footprint pilots in the framework of the European Commissions’ Building the Single Market for Green Products (SMGP) initiative pursuing the following goals:
- To create consistent rules for the calculation of the environmental performance of products/organisations belonging to the same category; and
- To communicate the results of these calculations and, where appropriate, make comparisons and comparative assertions for products/organisations fulfilling the same primary function.
Clear objectives and timeline for the pet food PEF pilot
The organisations participating in the Technical Secretariat will develop the pet food PEFCRs based on the rigorous life cycle approach which will be open and transparent for interested stakeholders. The life cycle environmental performance information will also undergo an external communication test for different target audiences. The Technical Secretariat is eager to work together to reach the following objectives:
- Harmonise the sector calculation rules to improve reproducibility, relevancy, comparability and coherence in environmental footprints for pet food;
- Allow the consumer and authorities to have an objective assessment and unbiased information of the environmental footprint for the cat and dog food sectors.
The pilot testing will begin in June 2014 and be finalised in 2017: The first two years will be dedicated to the methodological development of sector rules, the final year to the communication options for environmental information.
Call for other participants to join the pilot
Any organisation interested in receiving more detailed information or playing a more active role in the pet food PEFCR development is encouraged to contact the Technical Secretariat
(Angela Adams, Quantis, at angela.adams@quantis-intl.com or Thomas Meyer, FEDIAF, at tmeyer@fediaf.org).
[1] C&D Foods, the French Pet Food Association for Dogs, Cats, Birds and other domestic pets (FACCO, Chambre Syndicale des Fabricants d’Aliments pour Chiens, Chats, Oiseaux et autres animaux familiers), Mars PetCare, Nestlé Purina PetCare Europe, Saturn Petcare GmbH, and Quantis (i.e. one European federation, one National Federation, four pet food companies and one life cycle assessment (LCA) consulting firm)