It’s almost Christmas and we’re sure that most of you have relied on Amazon for gifts on the 25th. Packaging from Jeff Bezos’ company grew 18% over last year and there is so much waste that it could wrap the Earth 800 times (about 300 million kilograms of plastic).
This information was given to us by Oceana, a global organization of marine activists in a new report called “The Cost of Amazon’s Plastic Denial on the World’s Ocean“, which reveals the impact of plastic pollution resulting from billions of parcels purchased on the world’s most popular e-commerce website.
Amazon, for its part, rejected the figures presented by Oceana, claiming that it used less than half of single-use plastic in its global operating network (about 100 million kilograms). This is the first time the online retailer has revealed figures on how much plastic is used for packaging.
It must be said that Oceana’s estimate includes all sales across e-commerce platforms globally, while the multinational’s figure only includes the plastic packaging used for all orders handled by Amazon. This excludes orders placed online where Jeff Bezos’ company does not ship, but placed through third-party sellers.
“The science is clear, the type of plastic Amazon uses for its packaging is a threat to the oceans. Customers and shareholders are calling on the company to take action. It’s time for Amazon, like it did for the climate, to step forward and commit to a global reduction in its use of plastic packagingMatt Littlejohn, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at Oceana, said in a statement.
