Plastic Waste Footprint by Amazon Surged 29% in 2020

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Oceana- the leading nonprofit ocean conservation organization said that online retailer giant Amazon generated 599 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2020. This is significantly higher by 29% from 2019. The estimates are based on available trade data and data sets from a similar scientific study.

According to Oceana, Amazon has failed to keep its recycling promises. The recycling efforts by the company have not reduced the plastic packaging waste footprint. Moreover, the plastic film packaging used by the company is generally not recyclable via curbside recycling, the report said.

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A secret survey conducted at 186 stores in around 25 cities indicated that the alternative recycling drop-off points for plastic film, as claimed by Amazon, were not even accepting Amazon plastic packaging.

Oceana urged Amazon to fix the problem, by reducing use of plastic in its packaging. Such a move is essential to save oceans, especially because the online retail market is set to witness rapid growth over the coming years.

However, Amazon refuted the charges, saying that the calculations made by Oceana are seriously flawed. Oceana has over-estimated its plastic usage by more than 300% and that their projections are based on outdated assumptions. The company disagreed with the estimates and said that it is working hard to reduce the amount of plastic used by it.