The largest e-commerce company in the world Amazon has been pulled up by environmental groups and customers in the United Kingdom after the company introduced a number of plastic packaging which is not possible to be recycle din the country.,
According to reports, the online retailer leader of the world has begun the use of small plastic envelopes for small items, apparently with the aim of being able to stack up a larger number of parcels in to each delivery truck even as the supermarkets and other retailers in the UK have been actively bringing down the use of single use plastics.
According to a report published in The Guardian, one of the individuals and an Amazon customer who had complained about the issue to the company is Adrian Fletcher from Glasgow believes that the measure by Amazon is like a “major step backwards” in the fight against plastic. “My husband is disabled, and we rely a lot on Amazon and other home deliveries. Previously our small orders arrived in easily recyclable cardboard packaging, but a few months ago Amazon started using plastic envelopes. I diligently recycle all the packaging but can’t these,” she said.
“The supermarkets have all been dropping carrier bags from their online deliveries, but Amazon is going the other way – it’s madness. I have asked them not to ship my orders using plastic packaging but this falls on deaf ears.”
The Prime-branded envelopes are “not widely recycled across the UK”, says the Amazon’s Second Chance website where details of how customers should recycle its packaging is given.
It is estimated that anything between 4bn and 5bn parcels a year worldwide is shipped by Amazon. A report published by the Washington Post in February detailed how US recycling centres were being clogged up because of the new Amazon envelopes because those were being wrongly placed in recycling bins by customers.
Amazon was a signatory on Monday – along with 180 other companies, to a new official definition of corporate purpose in the US, which did away with the decades old sole business objective of generating as much of profits as possible for shareholders. Instead the new corporate aims and objectives adopted also included the interest of the other stakeholders such as the employees, customers, suppliers and the community in the core purposes of business.
According to analysts, the move was undertaken in response to growing criticism of business and traditional capitalism. One of the newer aspects to be included in the corporate purpose of businesses is protecting the environment “by embracing sustainable practices”. It was signed by Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and boss.
“Despite the huge public outcry, it’s astonishing how many companies are still using single-trip, un-recyclable plastic for deliveries. If we want to stem the tide of plastic pollution blighting our environment, giant firms like Amazon have to find ways of making deliveries in returnable and reusable packaging. And if they won’t – the government should make them,” said Mike Childs, the head of policy at Friends of the Earth.
In its response to The Guardian, Amazon said “Our mission is to deliver the very best customer experience. We work with manufacturers worldwide to continuously improve packaging design and introduce new, sustainable packaging that delights customers, eliminates waste, and ensures products arrive intact and undamaged for our customers.”
(Source:www.theguardian.com)
According to reports, the online retailer leader of the world has begun the use of small plastic envelopes for small items, apparently with the aim of being able to stack up a larger number of parcels in to each delivery truck even as the supermarkets and other retailers in the UK have been actively bringing down the use of single use plastics.
According to a report published in The Guardian, one of the individuals and an Amazon customer who had complained about the issue to the company is Adrian Fletcher from Glasgow believes that the measure by Amazon is like a “major step backwards” in the fight against plastic. “My husband is disabled, and we rely a lot on Amazon and other home deliveries. Previously our small orders arrived in easily recyclable cardboard packaging, but a few months ago Amazon started using plastic envelopes. I diligently recycle all the packaging but can’t these,” she said.
“The supermarkets have all been dropping carrier bags from their online deliveries, but Amazon is going the other way – it’s madness. I have asked them not to ship my orders using plastic packaging but this falls on deaf ears.”
The Prime-branded envelopes are “not widely recycled across the UK”, says the Amazon’s Second Chance website where details of how customers should recycle its packaging is given.
It is estimated that anything between 4bn and 5bn parcels a year worldwide is shipped by Amazon. A report published by the Washington Post in February detailed how US recycling centres were being clogged up because of the new Amazon envelopes because those were being wrongly placed in recycling bins by customers.
Amazon was a signatory on Monday – along with 180 other companies, to a new official definition of corporate purpose in the US, which did away with the decades old sole business objective of generating as much of profits as possible for shareholders. Instead the new corporate aims and objectives adopted also included the interest of the other stakeholders such as the employees, customers, suppliers and the community in the core purposes of business.
According to analysts, the move was undertaken in response to growing criticism of business and traditional capitalism. One of the newer aspects to be included in the corporate purpose of businesses is protecting the environment “by embracing sustainable practices”. It was signed by Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and boss.
“Despite the huge public outcry, it’s astonishing how many companies are still using single-trip, un-recyclable plastic for deliveries. If we want to stem the tide of plastic pollution blighting our environment, giant firms like Amazon have to find ways of making deliveries in returnable and reusable packaging. And if they won’t – the government should make them,” said Mike Childs, the head of policy at Friends of the Earth.
In its response to The Guardian, Amazon said “Our mission is to deliver the very best customer experience. We work with manufacturers worldwide to continuously improve packaging design and introduce new, sustainable packaging that delights customers, eliminates waste, and ensures products arrive intact and undamaged for our customers.”
(Source:www.theguardian.com)
Homepage
Send to a friend
Printable version
Share
