Plenty of Amazon plastic to go around ... the Earth

There is more plastic from Amazon's packaging swirling in Earth's oceans, according the environmental advocacy group Oceana, which says the amount of plastic from the online retailer can circle the planet more than 800 times in the form of air pillows.

A new report by the environmental group states that plastic waste from Amazon packages increased by 18% last year. Oceana estimates Amazon's plastic waste jumped from 599 million pounds in 2020 to 709 million pounds in 2021.

“The science is clear, the type of plastic used by Amazon for its packaging is a threat to the oceans. Customers and shareholders are calling for the company to act. It’s time for Amazon to, as it has on climate, step up and commit to a global reduction in its use of plastic packaging,” said Matt Littlejohn, Oceana’s senior vice president for strategic initiatives, in a statement.

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Amazon has also recently claimed that its use of single-use plastic has dropped. For its part, the company said this week that it used slightly more than 200 million pounds of single-use plastic last year to ship orders to customers.

"In 2021, we reduced average plastic packaging weight per shipment by over 7%, resulting in 97,222 metric tons of single-use plastic being used across our global operations network to ship orders to customers," the company stated.

Amazon further notes that "plastics, especially single-use plastics, are difficult to recycle, so they are more likely to create waste in the long term. Although the plastic packaging Amazon uses today is recyclable, it generally requires our customers to take the materials from their homes to store drop-off locations."

The company also says it is phasing out some of its plastic packaging in favor of paper versions that can be recycled. Of the plastic that remains, it says it is using "less material and more recycled content." Amazon says it was using 50% recycled outgoing packaging in 2021.

The company's data leaves out a considerable source of other plastic packaging made possible through its online-shopping platform, Oceana notes. Third-party merchants sell items via Amazon, but don't use the company's fulfillment services. That packaging isn't included in the company's numbers.

According to Oceana: "While Amazon claims to have reduced average plastic packaging weight per shipment by over 7% in 2021, it has not disclosed by how much its global plastic packaging footprint grew from 2020 to 2021. Amazon’s sales are reported to have grown by 22% in this time period. As sales increase, the company’s plastic footprint grows too. Oceana estimated a plastic footprint growth of 18%, accounting for the plastic reduction measures Amazon has taken in some countries (such as India)."