Big Change: Amazon Swaps Plastic for Paper in Packaging

Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, has finally said goodbye to plastic air pillows in its packages. After years of pressure from environmental groups, the company announced last week that it's ditching plastic in favor of paper-based padding that's easier to recycle. This is a big deal because Amazon ships tons of products every day, and every little bit of plastic they cut out makes a difference. But it's not all sunshine and roses. Amazon still uses loads of plastic in other packaging, like those thin, hard-to-recycle delivery bags and padded mailers. Groups like Oceana want Amazon to set deadlines to phase out all single-use plastics and switch to reusable alternatives.

Amazon has made more progress in places with stricter plastic rules, like Europe and India. In the U. S. , they've been slower to change. In 2022, they generated 208 million pounds of plastic packaging trash just in the U. S. But they're working on it. They've already changed some machines to make paper bags instead of plastic. Amazon also promises to ship more products in their original packaging, without extra Amazon wrapping. They aim to ship two-thirds of their stuff in North America without extra packaging by the end of next year. But there's still room for improvement. Amazon sells lots of food and drinks in hard-to-recycle plastic bags. And their grocery chain, Whole Foods, has whole aisles of products wrapped in plastic that can't be recycled anywhere.

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