The European Commission has officially approved the updated Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) for pet food. The new guidelines provide a harmonised and transparent methodology. This allows companies better measure, improve and communicate their sustainability performance, according to FEDIAF.
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What is the PEF method?
The Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method is a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology validated by the European Commission that maps the environmental impact of products. This assessment covers 16 impact categories, including climate change, natural resources, water consumption and effects on human health.
Since the introduction of the PEF method in 2013, the pet food sector has been working on sector-specific PEFCRs. Their application helps companies to identify environmentally critical points in the product life cycle, to optimize recipes and to monitor improvements.
For consumers, it provides a reliable way to compare the ecological footprint of different pet food products, allowing them to make more sustainable choices.
PEF and OEF
In 2013, the European Commission introduced the PEF and Organisational Environmental Footprint (OEF) methods to measure the environmental performance of products and organisations in a uniform manner. The pet food sector was one of 11 sectors that participated in the pilot phase (2013-2018). This resulted in the first set of PEFCRs for pet food.
Within the guidelines, 4 representative product categories have been established: wet cat food, dry cat food, wet dog food and dry dog food. The most recent revision, resulting from the new recommendations of the European Commission published in 2021, marks an important step in the further sustainability of the sector, according to FEDIAF.
Achieving sustainability goals
According to FEDIAF, the updated PEFCR guidelines provide the pet food industry with a powerful tool to achieve sustainability goals and communicate transparently about the environmental impact of products.
The full text of the updated PEFCR is available via the FEDIAF website.
