Amazon announced a significant environmental initiative on Thursday, revealing plans to replace plastic air pillows with recycled paper packaging across North America by the end of this year. This transition marks the company’s largest plastic packaging reduction effort in the region to date, aiming to eliminate nearly 15 billion plastic air pillows annually.
The decision reflects Amazon’s commitment to reducing waste and prioritizing recyclable materials in its packaging processes. According to the e-commerce giant, 95% of plastic air pillows in North America have already been replaced with paper filler, with full removal expected by the year’s end.
“We want to ensure that customers receive their items undamaged, while using as little packaging as possible to avoid waste, and prioritizing recyclable materials,” Amazon stated.
The transition began last October at an automated fulfillment center in Ohio, where Amazon tested and refined the use of recycled paper filler. Feedback from this facility indicated that paper filler offers comparable or even better protection during shipping compared to plastic air pillows. Moreover, the paper filler is made from 100% recyclable content and is curbside recyclable.
Christian Garcia, an employee at Amazon’s Bakersfield, California fulfillment center, highlighted that the paper filler is easier to handle, providing more space for packing orders efficiently.
Matt Littlejohn, Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Oceana, welcomed Amazon’s efforts but emphasized that further actions are necessary. “While this is a significant step forward for the company, Amazon needs to build on this momentum and fulfill its multiyear commitment to transition its North America fulfillment centers away from plastic,” Littlejohn stated.
In addition to phasing out plastic air pillows, Amazon is exploring other strategies to reduce waste, including shipping items without additional packaging and piloting AI-powered robots for recycling sorting and data collection.
The move underscores Amazon’s ongoing efforts to address environmental concerns and aligns with broader industry trends towards sustainable packaging solutions.