Amazon has announced plans to eliminate 95% of plastic bubbles from its packaging in North America, a major environmental initiative it hopes will help reduce its carbon footprint.
The move is part of a broader company effort to eventually replace plastic fillers with 100% recyclable paper fillers, which would eliminate nearly 15 billion plastic pillows annually.
By choosing paper packaging, Amazon not only gives it a second life through recycling, but also significantly reduces its dependence on plastic, a material derived from fossil fuels.
Amazon will replace plastic packaging with paper fillers
“For Prime Day this year, almost all of our customer deliveries will be free of plastic inflatables,” the company said.
Looking ahead, Pat Lindner, Vice President of Mechatronics and Sustainable Packaging, said: “We are working toward full elimination in North America by the end of the year and will continue to innovate, test and scale to prioritize recyclables.
Amazon has already had some experience using paper packaging instead of plastic bubbles. Last October, it opened an automated fulfillment center in Ohio that focused on using 100% recycled paper to protect items in its packages.
Amazon says paper offers “the same, if not better” protection compared to its plastic counterpart, with the added benefit of being recyclable by mainstream households without the need to send it to a special recycling facility.
The company has also taken other measures to reduce material waste, such as shipping items in original packaging, which represented 11% of all packages worldwide in 2022.
Amazon is approaching a market capitalization of $2 trillion, making it the fifth most valuable company in the world. With all eyes on its environmental performance, the company hopes that removing plastic from its packaging will speak volumes.