Credit: Amazon
Retail giant claims more than half its shipments in Europe now come in recyclable and lightweight packages
Amazon has lifted the lid on its ongoing efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its packaging and deliveries, as it today revealed more than half its shipments across Europe now come in material-lite, recyclable delivery packages or with no added packaging at all.
The online retail giant announced that while its classic corrugated cardboard boxes are still used for a significant portion of shipments in Europe that require more protection, more than 50 per cent now come in packages such as paper bags or cardboard envelopes, or with only a customer address label on a product with no Amazon packaging added at all.
The milestone is the result of ongoing work undertaken through Amazon's Ships in Product Packaging programme, which seeks to harness AI and machine learning to identify eligible products that do no require any additional Amazon-branded packaging, and can instead simply be shipped in the manufacturer's own packaging.
Amazon claimed that over the past five years the programme has enabled it to deliver more than 700 million shipments in Europe without additional packaging. It has also recently begun enrolling third-party sellers to the programme to help them redevelop their packaging and certify their products.
Meanwhile, a large proportion of items bought by customers that do require additional packaging for protection are now dispatched in paper or cardboard envelopes that Amazon claims are up to 90 per cent lighter than its standard smaller-sized, corrugated boxes.
The new lighter packaging is also less resource intensive to manufacture and uses up less space in delivery vehicles, thereby helping to reduce costs and emissions.
Overall, the company claims to have reduced the average weight of delivery packaging per shipment by 41 per cent over the past five years in Europe, which it estimates has avoided the need for more than two million tonnes of packaging materials.
"Customers know Amazon for our instantly recognisable cardboard delivery boxes, but more than half of our deliveries in Europe now come in lighter packaging such as paper bags or card envelopes, or with no added packaging at all," said Pat Lindner, vice president of mechatronics and sustainable packaging at Amazon.
"We are committed to using machine learning and artificial intelligence to reduce packaging and be more sustainable for our customers, and the Operations Innovation Lab in Italy is at the forefront of those efforts."
The company said it has been researching, testing and developing new greener packaging innovations at the site in Italy using a raft of technologies ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning systems to automated robotics.
These technologies have helped Amazon to identify products that can be safely delivered in lighter, recyclable packaging without risking damage to the product inside.
New innovations announced today include a new recyclable paper-padded envelope which Amazon is testing in Europe. The firm said the envelop was made entirely from paper, while also being optimised for weight, flexibility, and impact resistance, with paper padding on the inside offering further protection.
These envelopes, as with many of Amazon's other packaging innovations, are designed to be much lighter than cardboard boxes, easier to fill without wasted space, and to result in a lower carbon emissions during manufacture and transport.
Amazon also today provided further details on its efforts to develop new automated machines that create on-demand recyclable, made to fit packages, which it claims can reduce materials use, cut emissions, lower costs, and increase speed and efficiency from its delivery processes.
The firm also this morning revealed it will, by the end of 2024, have invested over €700m in robotics and AI-powered technologies across Europe through its Innovation Lab in Milan, Italy, supporting the deployment of over 1,000 robotics systems across its European fulfilment centre network, including item sorters, pallet movers, and automated guide vehicles.
In 2024 alone, Amazon said it expected to introduce 120 new pieces of automation technologies across the European network.
"The lab is host to a diverse and international team of engineers and scientists dedicated to finding innovative ways to enhance everyday tasks for our employees, providing a safer workplace while consistently delivering for our customers," said Stefano La Rovere, director for global robotics in Amazon's mechatronics and sustainable packaging division.
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