Amazon's Plastic Waste Soared in 2021, Report Finds (gizmodo.com) 25
Plastic packaging waste from the online retail giant Amazon ballooned to 709 million pounds globally in 2021 -- equivalent to the weight of some 70,000 killer whales -- according to a new report published Thursday by the nonprofit Oceana. From a report: That's an 18 percent increase over Oceana's estimate of Amazon's plastic packaging for 2020, indicating a growing problem that environmental advocates -- and even Amazon's own shareholders -- say the company is doing too little to address. Amazon's plastic packaging "is a problem for the world's waterways and oceans, and it's an issue they need to be prioritizing," said Dana Miller, Oceana's director of strategic initiatives and an author of the report.
If all the company's plastic from 2021 were converted into plastic air pillows -- the inflated pouches inserted in some Amazon packages to reduce shifting during transit -- and laid side by side, Miller said it would circle the globe more than 800 times. As the largest retailer on the planet, Amazon goes through a lot of plastic. It ships 7.7 billion packages around the world each year, often using plastic air pillows, bags, and protective sleeves to cushion products during transit. Environmental advocates say these are some of the worst kinds of plastics: They can't be recycled, and their light weight makes them prone to drifting into the oceans, where they kill more large marine mammals than any other kind of ocean debris. As the plastics break down, they not only leach harmful chemicals but can also bind with new ones in the environment, posing toxicity risks to the mussels, oysters, whales, and other animals that unintentionally ingest them.
If all the company's plastic from 2021 were converted into plastic air pillows -- the inflated pouches inserted in some Amazon packages to reduce shifting during transit -- and laid side by side, Miller said it would circle the globe more than 800 times. As the largest retailer on the planet, Amazon goes through a lot of plastic. It ships 7.7 billion packages around the world each year, often using plastic air pillows, bags, and protective sleeves to cushion products during transit. Environmental advocates say these are some of the worst kinds of plastics: They can't be recycled, and their light weight makes them prone to drifting into the oceans, where they kill more large marine mammals than any other kind of ocean debris. As the plastics break down, they not only leach harmful chemicals but can also bind with new ones in the environment, posing toxicity risks to the mussels, oysters, whales, and other animals that unintentionally ingest them.
Large packages (Score:1)
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We've all received an Amazon package that was 10 times too big and filled with those air filled plastic bubbles. They still don't have that figured out
The huge Amazon cartons were a standing joke years ago. My recent Amazon orders have all come in the original manufacturer packaging, which Amazon has wrapped in a tough outer bag suited to the size of the package - a plastic bag. Sometimes you just can't win.
Re: Large packages (Score:2)
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Shamu-tastic (Score:4, Informative)
Re: Shamu-tastic (Score:2)
Re: Shamu-tastic (Score:5, Funny)
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I prefer the metric unit: Kilowhales.
Useless Comparisons (Score:5, Insightful)
the weight of some 70,000 killer whales
air pillows . . . laid side by side . . . would circle the globe more than 800 times
Who knows WTF that's supposed to mean, even if they gave a shit?
an 18 percent increase over Oceana's estimate of Amazon's plastic packaging for 2020
Hey, that could be useful info. How does it compare to amazon's increase in total weight shipped (or sales)? You know, something we might could draw some conclusion from?
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But every journalist knows that readers want their units of measurement in football fields, school buses, car lengths, Olympic sized swimming pools, arbitrary U.S. states, Libraries of Congress, and how many houses/cars could be purchased.
Not in Germany --- all we get is cardboard + paper (Score:5, Informative)
I'm based in Germany and we order from Amazon on a daily basis. I can't remember the last time I received a package with plastics. EVERY SINGLE PACKAGE we get is made of recycled cardboard, and the filling (if any) is recycled paper, which we put into the appropriate recycling bins.
So, I am really amazed at this report. Maybe things are different in the US? Perhaps Amazon really has to change what they send out based on local laws, which, in turn, means this is a US problem and not an Amazon problem?
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Same for Italy, the only Amazon packages I receive that are still in plastic bags are those that come from the UK, and with Brexit that number has drastically reduced.
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Maybe things are different in the US?
In the US, they use plastic bubble wrap pouches for small things. They're smaller and lighter than a box, which likely saves on fuel for delivery, which might be a good compromise. Things large enough to need a box come with chains of inflated plastic bags inside for cushioning.
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Germany internalizes packaging costs.
All packaging is property of the person providing it, and must deal with disposal. Customers may return any and all packaging (other than glass, and cardboard, and paper) to the place of purchase. End-User return to store, store return to mailing company, mailing company to warehouse, etc. Fear of garbage everywhere -- businesses got together to start the Green Dot program. This group charges businesses based on their packaging. They provide yellow bags to use to
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In Canada, I occasionally get things shipped in the paper-padded paper envelopes. But most things are shipped in either plastic bubblewrap bags or non-padded plastic bags. It really annoys me that they write on these plastic bags things like "lighter than our smallest box" or how it's less material than a box. Well, duh, but I can recycle a box, I can't recycle plastic mailers! I don't understand why they don't ship everything in the paper mailers. They act like reducing the packaging weight/volume helps bu
it's worse than you think (Score:2)
If you take a single plastic bag and put its atoms side by side, it would stretch around the world 75,000 times.
I too can present nonsensical, but factual information to make something look bad.
(base on average distance between atoms in a solid and the number of atoms in a typical plastic bag weighing 5g)
The math doesn't work out (Score:2)
In metric, please... (Score:2)
Hey, that's a neat metric! But my friend lives overseas. How many humpback whales does it weigh?
The question is "What happens after use?" (Score:2)
The world uses a lot of packaging; if one company does more business than the others, it will use more packaging. It might be more efficient from economies of scale, or not. But the amount of packaging is a function of the number of customers, mostly irrespective of supplier.
The problem of plastic packaging can be reduced (a) by using paper (my recent orders from Amazon have sometimes used filler of brown paper scrunched up, sometimes plastic air bags) and (b) by recycling. One way, when all else fails,