Trend Environmental Implications in Pet Food Industry: Focusing on Sustainability Issues

In recent years, many of the 150 pet food companies currently producing pet food in Europe have started to focus on the ethical and local sourcing of raw materials, but there is still a lack of optimisation of the production processes and sustainable sourcing of raw materials. The aim of this research is to describe the steps already taken by pet food manufacturers towards sustainability and to analyse future plans and objectives of the industry in relation to food overproduction and unnecessary waste. The Delphi method was used with a team of experts from two major international European pet food companies to gain insights to identify current aspects and also where we can see room for development. The research shows that there is a huge potential in recycled human food waste used as pet food raw material, while there are currently efforts on packaging and more effective energy consumption. Moving to insect-based pet food could be an even better approach to increase the level of sustainability. The pet food market is becoming increasingly important as a result of economic development and modern social standards, and it is particularly important to pay attention to these aspects related to the production of pet food even more.