Retailer giant Amazon has made a U-turn around its packaging strategy. From now on, any packaging material used to deliver a customer’s product will be 100% recyclable.
More than half of online shoppers in Australia are in favor of no extra delivery packaging being added to their orders. Customers are, in fact, demanding that retailers think of what’s best for the planet.
Amazon aims to reach 100% renewable energy globally by 2025.
It already started testing this initiative earlier this year. For now the focus is on no additional wrapping for items like nappies, toilet rolls, and pallets of drinks.
“No added packaging means shipments are lighter, which can reduce C02 emissions per package,” explains the retailer. It’s also a win-win for individuals; they don’t need to recycle the boxes. “Globally since 2015, Amazon has reduced the weight of outbound packaging per shipment by 41% on average. [It has also] eliminated over 2 million tons of packaging material.”
Some items must still be wrapped
The study also found that condoms and bikini wax strips are among the things customers would be least happy to receive without added delivery packaging. They are still not approving of some high-value items arriving without additional wrapping.
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The research also found that 10% of Australian shoppers would be happy to have no packaging with their online orders.
Amazon Australia’s country manager, Janet Menzies, says one way to reduce packaging is by working with manufacturers to design packaging capable of shopping safely. “Without additional paper bags, envelopes, or boxes from us. We’ve already achieved a lot, shipping more than triple the orders to customers with no added delivery packaging in Australia since 2021. We are working to ship even more deliveries the same way.”
Safety first
Any concerns of packages going missing have been cut short. Forty percent of those surveyed say knowing they can get a refund or replacement gives them the confidence to receive their online orders this way.
Amazon says products selected to be shipped without added packaging have had to go through “rigorous drop tests” to ensure items won’t break or get damaged during delivery.
Two-thirds of recipients say they are concerned about the damage it would cause to parcels if it had no packaging.
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Mia is a multi-award-winning journalist. She has more than 14 years of experience in mainstream media. She's covered many historic moments that happened in Africa and internationally. She has a strong focus on human interest stories, to bring her readers and viewers closer to the topics at hand.
