Amazon says it has stopped using plastic air cushions in its warehouses.
“As of October 2024, we have removed all plastic air cushions from our shipping packaging used in our global fulfillment centers,” the e-commerce giant said in an Oct. 9 blog post.
This is a welcome change after years of pressure from environmental groups to stop plastic pollution flooding the oceans. The company continues to work to generally reduce the use of single-use plastics in its packaging.
“Fantastic news for the world’s oceans”
“The fact that the world's largest e-commerce company has made global history with plastic air cushions is fantastic news for the world's oceans,” Matt Littlejohn, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at the nonprofit Oceana, said in a statement in response to Amazon's announcement.
The most common type of plastic waste near the coast is plastic wrap — a material that makes up these once-ubiquitous air cushions, according to Oceana. According to Oceana, this film is also the “most deadly” form of plastic pollution for large mammals like whales and dolphins that could ingest it.
Amazon's announcement came after the company promised in June to eliminate plastic air cushions in North America by the end of the year. In 2022, the company replaced air cushions and disposable plastic delivery bags in Europe with paper and cardboard alternatives. It also eliminated plastic film packaging at its plants in India in 2020.
The US is Amazon's largest market, and the company has not yet managed to completely eliminate plastic packaging in North America. It says it plans to reduce the amount of deliveries containing “Amazon-added plastic shipping packaging” to just a third of shipments in North America by December, down from two-thirds in December 2023.