How to Recycle Pet Food Containers & Bags
Steel and aluminum cans and rigid #2 or #5 plastic tubs recycle curbside like any other container. Multi-layer dry-food and treat bags don't - they're excluded by name from mainstream plastic-film recycling and need a brand take-back or in-store drop-off program instead.
Quick answer
Steel and aluminum pet food cans go straight into curbside recycling, same as soup cans, and rigid plastic tubs and treat containers marked #2 or #5 usually do too. Bags are the exception: most dry-food and treat bags are polypropylene or foil-laminate film that neither curbside bins nor grocery-store plastic-bag drop-offs accept - Trex's own film-recycling program lists pet food bags under items it explicitly won't take. Send bags to a brand mail-back program (Wellness, Open Farm, Royal Canin, Halo, Earthborn Holistic, and several others run free TerraCycle drop-offs) or bring any brand to a Pet Supplies Plus or Wag N' Wash store, no rinsing required. Before you go, confirm that a local recycling center accepts the material in its current condition.
- Recycling route
- Check locally
- Recycling code
- #2 HDPE, #5 PP (rigid containers); Steel/Aluminum (cans); bags require TerraCycle/retail take-back
- Typical value
- $0.06-0.10/lb for steel pet-food cans at scrap yards; TerraCycle and retail take-back programs are free
How to Prepare
- 1Empty cans and containers completely and rinse out food residue and oil
- 2Recycle steel and aluminum cans curbside with other metal containers - separate any plastic lid first
- 3Recycle rigid #2 HDPE or #5 PP tubs and treat containers curbside; labels don't need to come off
- 4Fish food containers are recyclable with #1 plastic bottles where accepted, even though they don't look like a bottle
- 5Don't put dry-food or treat bags in curbside recycling or a grocery-store film bin - both reject them
- 6Empty and dry bags, then take them to a brand take-back program or a Pet Supplies Plus/Wag N' Wash store
- 7Flatten and recycle the outer cardboard box some bags ship inside, if it's separate from the bag itself
Where to Recycle
- Curbside recycling (metal cans, rigid #2/#5 containers)
- Pet Supplies Plus and Wag N' Wash stores (any brand of bag, in-store, no cleaning required)
- Brand TerraCycle mail-back programs (Wellness, Open Farm, Royal Canin, Halo, Earthborn Holistic, and others)
- PetSmart TerraCycle pilot (Arizona and New Jersey only, specific brand sponsors)
- TerraCycle Zero Waste Box (paid, any brand)
- Scrap metal recyclers (bulk cans)
Special Instructions
Multi-layer bags are the one item in this category curbside recycling can't handle, and the standard plastic-film bins at grocery stores explicitly exclude them too - Trex's NexTrex film program lists pet food bags under 'do not include,' alongside chip bags and other metallized film. Wellness, Open Farm, Royal Canin, Halo, I and Love and You, Earthborn Holistic, A Pup Above, Nulo, and Portland Pet Food Company all currently run free TerraCycle mail-back programs. Easier than mailing: Pet Supplies Plus and Wag N' Wash stores take any brand of food, treat, or litter bag in-store, no cleaning required. If your brand has no free program, TerraCycle also sells a paid Zero Waste Box (about $134 for the smallest size) that covers any brand.
Environmental Impact
About 300 million pounds of pet food and treat packaging is generated in the US each year, and Pet Sustainability Coalition data cited by Earth911 puts more than 99% of it in landfills, largely because dry-food and treat bags get treated like recyclable material even though curbside and film-recycling programs both reject them by name. Cans don't have that problem - steel and aluminum are infinitely recyclable. Seven states (California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington) had passed extended producer responsibility packaging laws as of late 2025, which should eventually push pet food makers toward more recyclable formats, though the effects won't be immediate.
Official guidance and resources
Accepted items and drop-off rules can vary by location. Check the destination before you go.
What’s Accepted
Accepted
- Steel and aluminum pet food cans
- Rigid plastic tubs and treat containers (#2 HDPE, #5 PP)
- Fish food containers (recyclable with #1 bottles)
- Glass supplement or treat jars
- Cardboard shipping boxes food arrives in
Not Accepted
- Dry-food and treat bags in curbside recycling or grocery-store film bins (use TerraCycle or retail take-back instead)
- Foil-laminate pouches without a specific take-back program
- Containers with heavy food residue not rinsed out
- Containers marked #3, #6, or #7 (check local rules before assuming)
Donation & Take‑Back Options
Estimated value: $0.06-0.10/lb for steel pet-food cans at scrap yards; TerraCycle and retail take-back programs are free
FAQs
Why can't dry dog food bags go in curbside recycling even though they look like paper?
They're not paper. Most dry-food bags are polypropylene composite or true multi-layer laminate - plastic plus a thin aluminum layer - built to block moisture and oxygen. Polypropylene has a limited recycling market, and laminated film can't be separated by curbside sorting equipment, so both curbside programs and grocery-store film bins reject these bags. Trex's own NexTrex film-recycling program lists pet food bags by name under items it won't accept.
Which brands have free take-back programs for pet food bags?
As of late 2025, Wellness, Open Farm, Royal Canin, Eukanuba, Halo, I and Love and You, Earthborn Holistic, A Pup Above, Nulo, and Portland Pet Food Company all run free TerraCycle mail-back programs. The list changes over time, so check TerraCycle's site for your specific brand. If your brand isn't listed, Pet Supplies Plus and Wag N' Wash stores accept any brand's food, treat, or litter bags in person, with no cleaning required.
Do I need to remove labels from cans before recycling them?
No. The heat during the melting process burns off paper labels, and plastic labels get separated during sorting. Rinsing out food residue matters more than the label - leftover food, not the label, is what causes problems at the recycling facility.
Is a fish food container recyclable?
Yes, and it's an easy one to miss. Fish food containers don't look like a typical bottle, but Earth911 confirms they're recyclable alongside #1 plastic bottles where that material is accepted locally. Rinse out any residue and recycle it with your other #1 plastics.
What should I do with half-full or expired pet food?
Donate unopened, unexpired food to a local shelter or rescue - most take it. Once a container is empty, recycle it if it's a can or rigid #2/#5 plastic. Expired dry food itself can sometimes go into a municipal composting program (check locally), but that's about leftover food, not the packaging. Note this doesn't apply to pet waste - dog and cat feces should never go into a compost pile because of pathogen risk; bag it for the trash, or flush it, never into a septic system.
Recycle pet food containers & bags
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