Mars Petcare is a global company comprised of more than 50 brands that serve pets across the world through nutrition, health, research, technology and veterinary expertise. The company’s driving force is its strategic purpose of A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS™ and nutrition philosophy which reflects a respect for pets and the importance of the foods Mars Petcare makes.   The WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition is the research and development engine for Mars Petcare and a world-leading scientific authority on pet nutrition and health. WALTHAM developed the company’s guiding principles for pet food and nutrition.   These principles include: putting the pet’s needs first through advancing knowledge in pet nutrition; never compromising on making safe, quality foods using credible and caring science; driving good feeding practices by providing information, education and services; and listening to owner’s needs. WALTHAM also shares its key findings with the scientific community and industry associations, enabling pets and pet owners around the world to benefit from its work.   “At Mars Petcare, we don’t just talk about making A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS™, we live it every day,” said Mark Johnson, president of Mars Petcare North America. “Everything we do is grounded in our desire to make pets happy, healthy and welcome, from our products and services to our partnerships and investment into leading research and development.”   In line with contributing to a better world, Mars, parent company of Mars Petcare, has committed to multiple initiatives to reduce the impact the company’s products and manufacturing practices have on the environment. As part of its sustainable-in-a-generation plan, Mars announced at the end of 2015 that the company achieved its goal of sending zero waste to landfill from direct manufacturing at all 126 of its production facilities around the world.   To encourage recycling of materials that can’t be handled by municipal recycling, Mars Petcare UK recently teamed up with TerraCycle on a recycling program in which pet owners drop off used pet packaging at designated locations to be recycled. Mars Petcare’s goal is to redesign all its packaging to be 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.   Additional initiatives focus on water stewardship, land use, improving the working lives of people in the company’s value chain and increasing access to the products and information that help maintain healthy lifestyles. The company estimates it serves more than 400 million pets across the globe and positively impacts the lives of billions of people and their pets.