Amazon advances sustainability with waste diversion, packaging innovations

USA – Amazon has made significant strides in its sustainability efforts, achieving an 85% waste diversion rate from landfills in its internal operations in 2024, up from 84% in 2023. 

The company’s focus on prevention, reduction, and reuse has driven progress toward its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, as part of its co-founding of The Climate Pledge. 

According to company officials, 83% of diverted waste was recycled or composted, with cardboard and wood, comprising 65% of its waste footprint, nearly 100% recycled.

“We handle a vast array of items globally, which makes waste management complex,” said Justine Mahler, Amazon’s director of technical product management forwaste, water, and biodiversity. 

“Our partnerships with over 350 service providers help us recycle everything from safety shoes to industrial equipment.”

Innovative solutions include the use of GoCarts, reusable wheeled carts that replaced 85 million disposable wood pallets in 2024, reducing emissions from forklift operations. 

“These carts streamline our logistics and cut waste significantly,” said Jill Philips Ortega, general manager of Amazon’s BFI3 fulfillment center in DuPont, Washington. 

The company also repurposed 310,000 unused assets, such as shelving and first aid supplies, donating 5,000 items to disaster relief in Valencia, Spain.

Amazon’s packaging strategy emphasizes curbside-recyclable materials, phasing out plastic in favor of paper-based alternatives. 

In 2024, its Euclid, Ohio, facility became the first to use only paper packaging, with machines creating right-sized mailers to minimize material use. 

The Ships in Product Packaging program expanded, enabling 12% of shipments to use original brand packaging, reducing costs and environmental impact.

Meanwhile, to address unavoidable plastic use, particularly in grocery packaging, Amazon is innovating through its Sustainable Materials Innovation Lab. 

“We’re developing biodegradable, recyclable biopolyesters that perform like conventional plastics,” said Alan Jacobsen, director of materials and energy sciences.

 Collaborating with the BOTTLE Consortium, Amazon is testing produce bags made from Mater-Bi in Seattle’s Amazon Fresh stores, showing comparable performance to plastic for short-term storage.

A recent update highlights Amazon’s partnership with Glacier, an AI-powered recycling startup, to enhance sorting of biopolyester packaging, achieving 99% accuracy for consistent designs.

Additionally, a report by Waste Dive notes that Amazon donated the equivalent of 81 million meals globally in 2024, with 60 million in the U.S., through partnerships with Feeding America and Too Good To Go, further reducing food waste.

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