Since many years now, e-commerce giant Amazon Inc. has been taking proactive steps to decrease its carbon footprint. Today, Amazon’s efforts to reduce carbon footprints got a new impetus when the company announced that it has eliminated all single-use plastics in its packaging across its India-based fulfillment centers.

The e-commerce giant stated that it had substituted bubble wraps with paper for packaging materials. The company is using paper cushions that were 100% plastic-free. The company confirmed that all Amazons 50 + centers in India are complying with the new guidelines.

Sources cite that the decision by Amazon followed the advice of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year when he called for Indians to stop using single-use plastic packaging before 2022.

The firm also said it uses plastic in the packaging material, but it is 100% recyclable with the current recycling and separation networks. The company is also training sellers to take part in this national packaging change who fulfill customer orders.

Earlier this month, a first-ever India program called Packaging-Free Shipping (PFS) was expanded, in which compliance centers either offer complete package-free goods or have substantially lowered shipping packaging. Amazon now has the PFS program in more than 100 cities in India. The company has already said that more than 40% of its orders are using PFS in India today.

Notably, as of September 2019, Amazon has established plastic waste collection and recycling organizations to facilitate the collection of comparable 100 percent plastic waste across the entire Amazon distribution network.

Previously, Amazon reported that it is investing USD 2 billion in an internal venture capital fund to reduce the effect of climate change. The new Climate Pledge Fund will invest in businesses from a variety of sectors, such as shipping, power generation, and production. The target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 is to be achieved through the plan.

Source Credit - https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/29/amazon-eliminates-single-use-plastic-in-packaging-in-india/