Inspired Pet Nutrition (IPN) has announced that it is officially a carbon negative business, claiming to be the first major UK pet food manufacturer to achieve the accreditation.
The manufacturer has been accredited as achieving carbon negative status by Carbon Footprint, and has now launched its ‘A Positive Pawprint’ project in a bid to “become the most sustainable pet food manufacturer in the country”.
In light of this, it has outlined a set of goals to increase its sustainability, including a shift to 100% recyclable dog food packaging in early 2021, as well as a plan to provide 1 million meals for pets in shelters.
To reach carbon negative status, IPN worked with Carbon Footprint to calculate its production emissions, with an aim to then invest in projects such as tree planting in the UK and supporting wind farms and solar power overseas.
IPN also stated its intention to plant a tree for its 300 employees.
The group previously became the first UK pet manufacturer to be awarded green level accreditation by Investors in the Environment in 2017.
The company has also reduced its own carbon emissions by 10% year-on-year, and has previously developed packaging innovations such as SIOC (Ship In Own Container).
CEO Richard Page said: “Lots of companies are now promising to address climate change in the coming years, which is good to see – but we didn’t want to set a distant future pledge for something that could be done today.
“Sustainability isn’t new to us, it’s part of our DNA as we’ve always tried to make the right choices for people, pets and the planet and led the way when we launched Harringtons into compostable bags back in 2009. Becoming carbon negative is the next big step towards our goal of being the UK’s most sustainable pet food manufacturer.”
Its latest sustainability initiative has been launched alongside a new ‘Miles and Meals’ campaign, which aims to promote social responsibility goals for pet owners. The campaign will urge owners to walk, run or cycle “as many miles as they can”. IPN will then select from a network of nearly 100 animal charities and pet shelters and donate a meal for every mile walked.
Corporate marketing executive Hannah Page said: “We’ve all spent a lot of time indoors in 2020 and it’s clear that taking exercise with your pet really helps improve physical and mental wellbeing.
“So we wanted to give people an extra reason to get out and about, in the knowledge that each mile will fund a meal for a pet that needs support.”
