Dennis Milazzo
Amazon has recently been noted to provide a sustainability plan on their website. This plan outlines their “progress” in reducing their carbon footprint. They claim that they strive to find ways that “reduce” their packaging while making the materials they use easier to recycle. Amazon claims they have seen successes in reducing packaging and the waste left by their material. Amazon claims that in 2023, they “avoided more than 446,000 metric tons of packaging. Since 2015, we’ve reduced the average per-shipment packaging weight by 43% and avoided a total of more than 3 million metric tons of packaging”. (Amazon 2) Amazon boasts that they have reduced their packaging weight, and in 2023 they claim that they shipped 12% of their orders globally without Amazon packaging. Though these things may be true, studies show that Amazon’s plastic packaging is far less efficient than the company claims.
It is clear from what Amazon had bragged about on their website that they think they are making a valid sustainability effort through methods of reducing package weight. This, however, doesn’t fix the massive amount of issues Amazon’s packaging is responsible for. Last summer, Amazon announced that they would introduce recyclable bags to replace the single-use bags they had been using. A study conducted by Environment America concluded that out of 93 trackers placed into recycled Amazon material, “thirteen ended up in landfills—three times more than the number of packages that ended up in material recovery centers. Two trackers went to an incinerator to be burned and turned into toxic air pollution, and three went to the Port of Los Angeles, likely headed to another country where U.S. and state regulators have no jurisdiction to make sure it is being recycled” (PIRG 6). These numbers show that the “recyclable” plastic Amazon claimed to switch to may not be that recyclable at all. This is supported even further by the report's claim that 24 of the tracking devices ended up at a facility that downcycles plastic (Trex Company, Inc). This company makes benches and decks out of plastic film. This may seem like a positive thing, but the report goes on to reveal that Amazon’s packaging may not be used to make decks and benches. Trex does not use any plastic film that has been contaminated by food or with labels. This strongly reduces the amount of plastic provided by Amazon that can be recycled. Even if Amazon’s plastic bags are used by the company, it is being downcycled, not recycled. The bags are not being turned into a product that would decrease the need for more plastic, but rather are being turned into a product that is less recyclable than the original material.
Though Amazon may appear to be interested in increasing their sustainability efforts, the company has failed to introduce a proper, well-thought-out method of reducing waste. Rather, they have resorted to claiming their product is fully “recyclable” despite the fact that it is not. The little amount that is eligible to be recycled gets sent to downcycle facilities, which do not aid in the goal of decreasing the need for plastic.
Citations
1. Director, J. Engstrom State, Engstrom, J., Director, S., Director, C. Meiffren-Swango State, & Meiffren-Swango, C. (2024, March 18). Truth in recycling. U.S. PIRG Education Fund. https://pirg.org/edfund/resour...;
2. Staff, A. (2022, December 13). How Amazon is improving packaging and boosting sustainability. About Amazon. https://www.aboutamazon.com/ne...