Amazon UK has announced that it will no longer use plastic air pillows as part of its delivery packaging.
The move means those shopping directly with Amazon and those buying goods fulfilled by Amazon on behalf of third-party brands will no longer receive the single-use plastic packaging.
Instead of plastic air pillows, the delivery packaging will comprise 100% recycled and 100% recyclable packing paper, known as dunnage, according to Amazon, which announced the news earlier this week.
The dunnage is designed to prevent movement within boxes and keep items safe.
Amazon is on a journey to reduce single-use plastic packaging, and it removed single-use plastic delivery bags for Amazon-fulfilled deliveries earlier this year. It now delivers to UK customers in paper bags and cardboard envelopes.
Olivier Pellegrini, director of customer delivery experience at Amazon, commented: “Packaging that is easy to recycle is important to customers and important to us.
“Ending the use of plastic air pillows is just another step towards packaging that can easily be added to our customers’ household recycling.”
Amazon said it encourages vendors using its platforms to put their products in easy-to-open packaging that is 100% recyclable and ready to ship to customers without additional Amazon packaging.
It added that delivery packaging is tested in a dedicated lab and in fulfilment centres across the globe to identify ways its partners can improve how they package their goods – for the good of the environment and the safety of the product.
The company is also encouraging third-party sellers who do not use Amazon’s fulfilment network – and therefore are responsible for their own packaging choices – to use more sustainable packaging.
Amazon acknowledged that customers in Europe may still receive products in plastics packaging in some circumstances. Other types of plastic padding material such as bubble wrap may still be used, for example, to protect fragile items like glass.
It also suggested that it may have to add additional single-use plastic bag to the paper and cardboard packaging to protect orders that are left on door steps in the rain.
Read more about packaging on Green Retail World
[Image credit: Amazon]
