UK pet food company to open anaerobic digestion plant in September

A UK pet food processing company will open an anaerobic digestion plant in September, which will be able to recycle 45,000 metric tons of food waste each year and produce 2.8 Mw of renewable electricity and heat.
Prosper De Mulder’s £12m (US$19.13 million) plant will create 35 to 40 new jobs and will allow the company to move away from using landfills to dispose of food waste.
“We have been looking at anaerobic digestion for five or six years but previously the incentives weren’t there to do it,” said commercial director Philip Simpson. “Now, the landfill price is coming up and there are green incentives and the feed-in tariff to make it more worthwhile.”

DuPont survey reveals sustainability as greatest packaging challenge

DuPont recently conducted an online global survey of consumer packaged goods companies and packaging converters, which found that the desire for greater sustainability dominates the packaging industry.
More than 500 packaging professionals were surveyed and over 40% cited sustainability as the toughest challenge, while 33% named cost as a major factor (see figure). Of those respondents working on sustainable packaging, 65% said their company's efforts to improve packaging sustainability are focused on design for recyclability or use of recycled content; 57% said their company is focused on weight reduction; 41% said their company is focused on renewable materials; and 25% said their company is focused on compostable materials.
“These survey results confirm that there are many pathways to improving packaging sustainability,” said William J. Harvey, DuPont president. “It starts with close collaboration throughout the value chain to spark innovation.”

Free Range Eco Naturals changes name, implements many 'green' initiatives

Free Range Eco Naturals Dog Treats Inc. changed its name as one of several initiatives the petfood company has undertaken to become more environmentally friendly. 
As a part of these initiatives, Free Range relocated from Brazil to pastures in Argentina, where use of additives like steroids and hormones is forbidden, according to the company. Free Range also moved its corporate headquarters and warehouse facilities to Shelby Township, Michigan, USA.
The new offices are designed to have more "green" features, such as low-VOC wall paint, automatic light sensors, recycled carpeting, paperless inventory management system and a waste and recycling program. In addition, every package is biodegradable, compostable and recyclable, and have wild grass labels printed with soy ink, the company claims.