Amazon generated more plastic packaging in the United States in 2022 than the year prior, a new report by Oceana, an ocean conservation non-profit, has revealed.
The retail giant generated 208 million pounds (94,347 tonnes) of plastic packaging waste for all transactions in the United States in 2022, a 9.6% increase compared to 2021, according to Oceana’s estimates. Globally, on the other hand, Amazon reduced its use of single-use plastic packaging in shipping by 11.6% to 85,916 tonnes, according to the company’s 2022 sustainability report.
“Amazon’s failure to reduce plastic in the US is troubling,” said Matt Littlejohn, Oceana’s senior vice president for strategic initiatives. “The company has dramatically reduced plastic packaging in other major markets including India and Europe. Why are US customers being left behind? According to research by YouGov, 85% of Amazon customers in the US reported being concerned about plastic pollution. It’s time for Amazon to step up and commit to a global plastic packaging reduction everywhere it operates — including in the US,” he urged.
The US is Amazon’s home and largest market. It generated $356 billion in sales in 2022, when the share of the US in total net sales increased to 69%.
Amazon’s shareholders have long pressed the company to reduce its plastic usage. In May 2022, 49% of Amazon shareholders voted for a resolution asking the online retail giant to detail efforts to cut back on single-use plastics. If you discount company-controlled shares in the vote, it was supported by nearly 60% of investors.
Amazon has been introducing measures to cut plastic waste, like doing away with its ubiquitous blue and white plastic mailer or trialling bioplastic alternatives, but the US seems to be lagging behind.
The company said Oceana's report was 'misleading' and contained 'exaggerated and inaccurate information'. Amazon has not, however, disclosed its plastic use at the country level, nor its plastic use for all transactions including those fulfilled by third-party sellers.
“We’re disappointed that Oceana continues to release a misleading report with exaggerated and inaccurate information about our plastic packaging," said Pat Lindner, Amazon vice president of mechatronics and sustainable packaging. "Amazon is committed to reducing or eliminating packaging altogether, including the use of single-use plastic, and we’ve shown this by sharing consistent and transparent updates on our progress. In 2022, we used 85,916 metric tons of single-use plastic across our global operations network to ship orders to customers—an 11.6% overall yearly decrease, continuing to avoid tens of thousands of metric tons of new plastic each year in North America alone. We’ve also started a multi-year effort to eliminate plastic delivery packaging from our U.S. automated fulfilment centres, with the first already in operation and delivering to customers without any plastic packaging. We’ll continue to invest, invent and scale our packaging reduction work for the good of customers and the planet," he added.
Oceana said it calculated the amount of plastic packaging waste generated by Amazon in the US based on available market data, making adjustments informed by recent public communications from the company about changes in its plastic packaging use. It acknowledged that Amazon disclosed 'part of its global packaging footprint' in 2021 and 2022, but noted that data at the country level and for third-party sellers has not been made available.
The non-profit estimates that up to 22 million pounds of Amazon’s global plastic packaging waste from 2022 will end up in the world’s waterways and seas, using plastic waste pollution data from a peer-reviewed study published in Science as a model.
The non-profit is calling on Amazon to phase out plastic packaging in the US and make a company-wide commitment to reduce the total amount of plastic packaging it uses by at least one-third by 2030.
*This article was updated on 5/04/2024 to include a statement from Amazon.