{"id":3907,"date":"2023-06-06T09:00:25","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T15:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pirg.org\/colorado\/?post_type=article&p=3907"},"modified":"2025-05-09T09:50:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T15:50:52","slug":"its-prime-time-for-amazon-to-reduce-its-plastic-shipping-waste","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/pirg.org\/colorado\/articles\/its-prime-time-for-amazon-to-reduce-its-plastic-shipping-waste\/","title":{"rendered":"Too much plastic: Why Amazon\u2019s packaging needs to change"},"featured_media":45527,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":false,"_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":""},"campaign_tax":[170],"display_option":[],"issue_tax":[],"person_tax":[],"region_tax":[],"state":[2],"topic_tax":[145,310],"class_list":["post-3907","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"details":{"helper_taxonomies":{"topics":[145,310],"collection":false,"press_type":false,"person_type":false,"resource_type":false,"event_type":false,"campaigns":170,"department":false,"level":false,"states":[2],"act_option":false,"display_option":false,"primary":{"topic":145}},"featured_image":45527,"caption_override":"","excerpt":"Amazon has made recent commitments to reduce plastic packaging, but there is still more to be done. We need to keep pushing them to do more.","updated_on":"20250217","sidebar_action":[8001],"hide_hero_image":false,"sidebar_action_query_string":""},"helper_people_group":{"title":"Authors","entities":null},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"If you\u2019ve ever wondered how many packages Amazon delivers, you were right: It\u2019s a lot. Amazon delivers millions of packages in the United States alone.\r\n\r\nAnd if you\u2019ve ever received a package from Amazon \u2014 and let\u2019s face it, who hasn\u2019t? \u2014 you also may have wondered: Do they have to use so much plastic? And what happens to all of those plastic padded shipping bags and envelopes and other plastic stuff?\r\n\r\nThe answers are: No. And: It\u2019s not pretty.\r\n

A planet wrapped in plastic<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nOnline retailers create an enormous amount of plastic waste with single-use packaging that we just don't need. Not only does the pile of plastic we\u2019re confronted with every time we receive an online purchase seem excessive, but most of that plastic can\u2019t be recycled<\/a>. Plastic packaging, including plastic shipping envelopes, bubble wrap and foam, becomes waste as soon as the package is opened.<\/span>\r\n<\/span>\r\n<\/span>Multiply that by the millions upon millions of people making purchases every day through online retailers like Amazon, and you get an e-commerce packaging problem that generated 3.8 billion pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2022. A recent report<\/a> estimates that 208 million pounds of that plastic packaging waste comes from Amazon alone. That amount of plastic would, in the form of plastic air pillows, circle the planet more than 200 times.<\/span>","":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_large_image","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_large_image":{"width":"narrow","image":52637,"caption_override":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

The problems with plastic<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe biggest problem with plastic, of course, is also its chief selling point: It\u2019s so durable that it lasts forever \u2014 or pretty darn close to forever, degrading ever-so-slowly<\/a> (depending on its location and exposure to sunlight) into microplastics.\r\n\r\nA small amount of the billions of tons of plastic generated since roughly 1950 gets recycled<\/a>. A slightly larger amount is incinerated<\/a> (which is worrisome, given the chemicals released into the air).\r\n\r\nThe rest is supposed to go to, and stay in, landfills. But it doesn\u2019t work out that way. Instead, researchers keep finding plastic everywhere<\/a> in the environment -- from the deepest point in the ocean to the highest point on Earth.\r\n\r\nThey also keep finding<\/a> it in animals, including seabirds, marine mammals and sea turtles. Researchers also are detecting<\/a> plastic\u00a0in our lungs, our blood and even the breast milk of nursing moms.\r\n\r\nThe experts are still sorting out the health and environmental effects of all of this plastic. They know that it\u2019s harming and sometimes even killing wildlife. As they study what it might be doing to us, we could take our chances and hope that what\u2019s happening to wildlife isn\u2019t happening to us. Or, we could do the smarter thing, and stop producing, consuming and disposing of so much plastic, starting with the plastic we don\u2019t really need.\r\n
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What Amazon can do to reduce plastic waste<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<\/div>\r\nLast summer, Amazon announced that it was in the process of phasing out plastic air pillows\u2013 those plastic film bags filled with air that show up with your online orders\u2013 from its shipments in North America by the end of 2024, avoiding 15 billion air pillows from being used every year. The retail giant has also committed to eliminating plastic padded shipping bags (the white envelopes with blue writing) but failed to give a specific timeline for the phase out.<\/span>\r\n<\/span>\r\n<\/span>Amazon\u2019s recent commitments are steps in the right direction and can help move the industry away from wasteful single-use plastics that pollute our environment and harm public health. <\/span>\r\n\r\nBut Amazon is not off the hook yet. There\u2019s still more that the retail giant can do to stem the tide of plastic pollution.<\/strong>\r\n<\/span>\r\n<\/span>Amazon should continue to take steps to reduce plastic including setting an ambitious deadline for phasing out plastic padded shipping bags, and eliminating the rest of the single-use plastic used in its shipments, including other plastic film and bags.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<\/span>\r\n<\/span>Amazon has committed to eliminating single-use plastic packaging in Europe and eliminating all single-use plastic film in India. It should do the same here in the United States. And, eventually, Amazon should find innovative ways to move away from single-use packaging altogether.<\/span>","":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_large_image","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_large_image":{"width":"narrow","image":46347,"caption_override":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

Ask Amazon to reduce single-use plastic packaging<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nAmazon's recent commitment comes on the heels of a years-long campaign from PIRG and other environmental groups who have been calling on Amazon to reduce its use of plastic packaging due to its impact on the environment and public health. In 2023, after receiving 138,000 petitions from the public, including many PIRG supporters, Amazon began making its commitments to reduce some plastic packaging from their shipments. So, it's clear they are listening, so we need to continue pushing them to do more.<\/span>\r\n\r\nBy raising our voices together, we can convince Amazon to continue to reduce its reliance on plastic packaging.<\/span>\r\n<\/span>\r\n<\/span>It\u2019s the same strategy that\u2019s worked for us before. Across the country, our supporters have helped win statewide bans on single-use plastic bags and foam cups and containers \u2014 and as a result, 1 in 3 Americans today lives in a state with such a ban.<\/span>\r\n<\/span>\r\n<\/span>As for Amazon, it can\u2019t solve the plastic waste problem all by itself. Yet each time a major company commits to eliminating its plastic waste, it paves the way for another to follow suit.<\/span>\r\n\r\nPlease join us in urging Amazon to reduce and phase out wasteful single-use plastic packaging.<\/b>\r\n\r\nOnce we succeed in getting rid of pernicious single-use plastics, we\u2019ll see a difference in cleaner parks, streets, beaches and waters, decreased exposure to toxic materials for humans and wildlife, and less waste choking our planet. We\u2019ll see a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable future to leave to our children and grandchildren.<\/span>","":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_featured_action","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_featured_action":{"action":[8001],"action_query_string":""}}]},"yoast_head":"\nToo much plastic: Why Amazon\u2019s packaging needs to change<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amazon has made recent commitments to reduce plastic packaging, but there is still more to be done. 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