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How Amazon is improving packaging and boosting sustainability

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Across the globe, we continue to find ways to reduce our packaging, while making the materials we use easier to recycle. Here’s a look at our progress so far.

We spend a lot of time thinking about the best way to deliver products to our customers, including how they’re packaged. And when it comes to the packaging, we start with protecting the product to ensure orders will arrive undamaged. From there, we find ways to use less packaging, while prioritizing curbside recyclable materials.

  • Total packaging reduction: In 2023, we 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—the equivalent weight of nearly 285 of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle.
  • Plastic packaging reduction: In 2023, we decreased our average plastic packaging weight per shipment by 9% across Amazon’s global operations network, building on a 17% reduction in 2022. Altogether, we’ve avoided 80,500 metric tons of single-use plastic packaging since 2020.
  • Delivered without any packaging: In 2023, we shipped 12% of our orders globally without any additional Amazon packaging.
Let’s take a closer look at the work our teams are doing globally to build on these achievements.
Expanding paper-based packaging

When additional Amazon packaging is required to ship a product, we prioritize paper-based packaging solutions where possible. This packaging can often be recycled through home recycling pickup. Across our European fulfillment network we replaced our single-use plastic delivery bags and air pillows with 100% recyclable paper and cardboard packaging that can be recycled in household recycling in 2022.

In Europe, this—combined with other initiatives—has helped us avoid more than 1 billion single-use plastic delivery bags since 2019. Meanwhile, in India, we removed single-use, thin-film plastic packaging originating from Amazon’s fulfillment network in the country since 2020. In Japan, except for some services such as chilled or frozen products, we stopped packing items in single-use plastic delivery bags for orders from Amazon fulfillment centers As of October 2024, we’ve removed all plastic air pillows from our delivery packaging used at our global fulfillment centers.

As part of this transition,we were able to quickly expand our use of paper filler made from 100% recycled content across North America to replace plastic air pillows, our biggest reduction in plastic packaging in North America to date. We continue to innovate to create new paper-based packaging for our products.

This includes the new paper-padded envelope with a shock-absorbent, 100% paper-based lining, available in Europe. The ridged lining keeps products in the envelope safe, and absorbs stress put on the package during its journey to customers’ homes. This new paper-padded envelope is 100% recyclable in household recycling. We will continue to find ways to reduce packaging and increase the use of materials that can be easily recycled. We are committed to improving how orders are shipped, for the good of customers and the planet, and we will continue to share these progress updates with our customers.

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