Pet food manufacturer, Royal Canin South Africa, has launched an innovative recycling initiative at Cornubia Mall in Durban.
The initiative makes use of a Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) which consumers can deposit recyclable materials and in exchange, the company will donate pet food to animal shelter beneficiaries across South Africa.
The initiative is in collaboration with Imagined Earth, the manufacturer of the Reverse Vending Machines. The machines accept glass, plastic, metals and tetra-pak for recycling with consumers getting a choice of loyalty vouchers to use at selected partner outlets, airtime and data, in addition to the food donations.
I caught up with Caitlin Bowden, Digital Marketing Manager and Michelle Peruch, Business Development Officer at Royal Canin South Africa, to tell me more about the initiative.
“Royal Canin South Africa has collaborated with shopping centre’s in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town to launch three Royal Canin branded RVM’s. Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Western Cape are live, with RVM’s located at Kyalami Corner, Cornubia Mall and Willowbridge Shopping Centre, respectively.” Bowden said.
The initiative has seen over 3000 items recycled with over 3000 kgs of pet food being donated to animal shelters in need.
According to the company website, the RVM’s accept most glass, plastic and tin bottles and containers, including all grocery items. There are some size restrictions on what can be recycled with the RVM not being able to process plastic packets currently.
Royal Canin’s parent company, MARS, places environmental sustainability at the forefront of its business model.
According to its website, MARS has “set healthy planet ambitions linked to Climate Action, Water Stewardship and Land Use to reduce our environmental impacts in line with what science says is necessary to keep the planet healthy tomorrow.”
On why Cornubia Mall was chosen as a location for the Durban RVM, Bowden said that “at Royal Canin, our purpose is to make a better world for pets. When considering potential partners, we focus on the impact on the well-being of pets and the planet. Additionally, we want to ensure that our RVM’s are accessible.
“Cornubia seemed like a great fit, it is a lovely modern mall with great footfall and is accessible to a broad audience. The Cornubia Mall team was highly receptive to the campaign concept and because it aligned so well with their own environmental commitments, offered us a rent-free spot in the mall for four weeks.”
“We’d love to encourage all South Africans to recycle what they can. Not only is it our shared responsibility to promote a greener, healthier planet for all, but in this case, it is great for needy pets too as Royal Canin SA will donate 1kg for each item recycled at our branded RVM’s, up to 10 000kg” concluded Bowden.
Shelters that will benefit from the Royal Canin SA food donations are the Kitty and Puppy Haven and FORA SA in Johannesburg, Fallen Angels and Langebaan Animal Care in Cape Town and the Pietermaritzburg Animal Rescue in KwaZulu-Natal.
RVM is still working at cornubai mall