FEDIAF publishes updated Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) for pet food
Brussels, 25th February 2025 – The European Commission officially endorsed the updated Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR) for pet food. This milestone reaffirms FEDIAF’s commitment to the PEFCR as a key tool for assessing the environmental impact of pet food products. By ensuring a harmonized and consistently updated methodology, this update enhances transparency and comparability, enabling companies to measure, improve, and communicate the environmental performance of their products more effectively. This, in turn, supports industry-wide progress towards greater sustainability and responsible production practices.
The full text of the updated PEFCR for Pet Food is available here: https://europeanpetfood.org/sustainability/product-environmental-footprint-category-rules-pefcr-for-pet-food/
FEDIAF extends its gratitude to all members of the PEF Technical Secretariat, the review panel, and the European Commission for their dedication and collaboration in completing this update. We also sincerely thank our consultants, Blonk Merieux NutriSciences, for their valuable support throughout the revision process.
What is the PEF method?
The PEF (Product Environmental Footprint) method is a LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) methodology developed by experts and validated by the European Commission to quantify the environmental impacts of products. This assessment covers 16 impact categories of a product including: ecosystems, climate, natural resources, water and human health.
Why is it relevant?
Promoting sustainability from farm to bowl is one of FEDIAF’s three pillars of action, recently reaffirmed in FEDIAF’s election Manifesto. The Pet Food industry has been committed to developing sector-specific PEFCRs since the PEF method was introduced in 2013. Having a recognized methodology to assess the environmental impact of pet food products is positive both for the industry and the consumer: companies can easily identify impactful areas in a product’s life cycle, to adapt recipes and to track and improve the environmental performance of products; consumers have a reliable tool to compare the environmental footprint of different products and make informed decisions.
Background
The European Commission adopted in 2013 the Communication on building the single market for green products. In this context, the EC proposed the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF) methods as a common way of measuring environmental performance.
The Pet Food Sector was selected with ten others to take part in the pilot phase (2013-2018) leading to the development of the first set of Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR). The four representative products identified in the PEFCR are: wet cat food, dry cat food, wet dog food and dry dog food. Taking into account the learnings of the EF pilot phase, a new Commission Recommendation was published in December 2021, kickstarting the process that led to the latest update of the pet Food PEFCR.
FEDIAF is the voice of the European pet food industry, represents the interests of 15 European national pet food associations, together with five pet food manufacturers operating in Europe. FEDIAF members provide safe, nutritious, palatable and sustainable products for over 340 million pets in Europe. We are a growing sector that has circularity at its core. We are committed to promoting responsible pet ownership, in addition to supporting the important role of pets in society. In Europe, there are an estimated 280,000 people directly employed and 2,300,000 indirectly employed throughout the pet food industry.
ENDS