One of the main factors driving corporate environmental strategies is the public image—one survey after another found that environmental practices are increasingly beginning to influence consumers’ choices to shop or not at specific companies. A report by Simon-Kucher & Partners, a global strategic consulting firm, found that over the past five years, 85% of shoppers in different countries have turned their buying habits into a more “green”, while more than a third are willing to pay more to understand what they are buying’s purchases are sustainable.
e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) has established an environmental image among customers and investors for many years - it promises to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040, and calls environmental protection a "comprehensive victory" Do good for "the earth, business, our customers and our community".
As sales grow, plastic waste is also growing
But at the same time, data shows that the plastic waste generated by Amazon packaging continues to increase. According to the annual report released by the environmental advocacy non-profit organization Oceanah, this number is equivalent to £709 million by 2021. This is an increase from the 599 million pounds generated in 2020 18%. In other words, it has enough plastic to circumvent the earth 800 circles with air pillows (plastic bags used to protect Amazon orders during transportation).
The report has caused a sensation in the environmental world, especially the damage it may cause to marine life – Oceana claims that 55% of seabird species, 70% of marine mammal species and 100% of all sea turtle species are ingested plastic produced by human activities.
A Amazon spokesman told TheStreet, Oceana The “digits are exaggerated and inaccurate” and “the vast majority of plastic used to ship orders to customers” have been reduced.
Oceana In turn, it said that Amazon claims it reduced the average plastic packaging weight per shipment by more than 7% to a total weight of 97,222 metric tons, but did not mention “orders completed through third-party sellers” and what the proportion is to total sales.
Oceana in a blog on December 13, “Although Amazon promises transparency in its other sustainability efforts, such as its climate initiative, the company has not remained transparent to its global plastic packaging footprint until a few days ago. "The effort to reduce single-use plastics is outlined. "[...] Oceana admits it is a step towards greater transparency. However, the reported figures represent only a part of the company's global plastic packaging footprint. ”
will have more reviews in the future
Although e-commerce has been a bit struggling after the surge in demand in the early stages of the pandemic, Amazon is generally profitable this year—third quarter revenue increased 14.7% year-on-year to $127.1 billion.
shares have dropped nearly 50% since the beginning of the year due to rising interest rates rising, Amazon shares have fallen nearly 50% since the beginning of the year. The increase in sales brought by Amazon has led to a more stringent review of the waste it produces—in the report, Oceana As sales increase, the company's plastic footprint is also increasing. "Just as Amazon has done on climate, it's time to strengthen and commit to reducing the use of plastic packaging worldwide," Matt Littlejohn, senior vice president of strategic planning at
Oceana said in a statement. ”
