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Amazon dispenses with plastic packaging

For deliveries in Europe, Amazon only wants to use paper envelopes, cardboard envelopes and cardboard boxes and reduce plastic.

For its deliveries in Europe, Amazon only wants to use paper shipping bags, cardboard envelopes and cardboard boxes, thereby reducing plastic. Additional outer packaging is also to be dispensed with. 

Amazon has announced that with immediate effect All outer packaging in Europe is 100 per cent recyclable are all paper bags, cardboard envelopes and cardboard boxes that are required for shipping to customers. This applies both to items that Amazon itself, as well as those of third-party sellers who handle shipping via Amazon („Shipping by Amazon“).

In Germany, the company has been doing without disposable plastic packaging since 2022. Customers receive their shipments in flexible paper mailing bags, cardboard envelopes and corrugated cardboard boxes that can be easily recycled at home. Last year, Amazon also reduced the number of products shipped in Europe without additional outer packaging by more than 50 per cent. The company estimates that more than one billion items of single-use plastic packaging have already been avoided in Europe since 2019.

Less packaging and recyclable solutions

Together with the manufacturers, Amazon is working to offer more products in Easy-to-open original cardboard and paper packaging that are recyclable and can be shipped without additional Amazon shipping bags or boxes. The products are then labelled with an address label and delivered in their original packaging, should customers so wish. If outer packaging is required, the company endeavours to use lighter and, where possible, customised outer packaging. This ensures that the products reach the customer safely and at the same time saves both packaging material and CO2-emissions are reduced.

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„We are proud that we now only use recyclable packaging for customer orders in Europe. This initiative is part of our long-term ambition to become an industry leader in sustainability. We will continue to invest in innovative technologies, machine learning and more sustainable materials to ensure that our packaging solutions - whether they come from us or other companies - are good for our customers, society and the environment.“

Pat Lindner, VP of Mechatronics and Sustainable Packaging at Amazon

Amazon teams around the world are continuously working on this, Making packaging more sustainable on a scientific basis. To achieve this, the company is constantly investing in new materials, processes and technologies. The innovative packaging solutions that Amazon is currently trialling throughout Europe include padded paper envelopes and reusable shipping bags. Amazon is also offering its sales partners incentives to reduce the amount of packaging they use.

For every order that requires additional outer packaging, Amazon uses technological solutions to minimise the type and size of the packaging. Determine the size of the required packagingMachine learning is used to determine which products are suitable for flexible packaging such as paper mailing bags, which are up to 90 per cent lighter than cardboard boxes of a comparable size. In the last five years, these algorithms have reduced the consumption of cardboard boxes by over 35 per cent. Amazon also uses algorithms in its logistics centres to provide a suitable range of carton sizes and thus reduce the Reduce outer packaging for deliveries with multiple items.

Source: Amazon

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