Amazon created 599 million pounds (contracted 271,700 tons) of plastic waste in 2020, including air pillows, bubble bags and plastic-lined paper envelopes, and a third of it (23.5 million pounds, contracted 10,700 tons) went into the ocean, with only 9 percent recycled, according to a report by environmental group Oceana.
Oceana said 23.5 million pounds of plastic waste into the ocean means Amazon dumps a truckload of plastic into the ocean every 67 minutes, and that Amazon should take responsibility for reducing ocean pollution.
In the face of Oceana's accusations, Amazon responded: Oceana's calculations were inaccurate, the company's plastic usage was overestimated by more than 300%, and the model it used to calculate the amount of plastic waste discharged into the ocean was wrong, and there was actually not that much.
Amazon added that Amazon has eliminated single-use plastic packaging in India, Germany, and has made some progress in promoting the reduction of plastic bag use in the U.K. and around the world, and that Amazon will double the amount of recyclable plastic in North America and push recyclable paper packaging around the world.
Matt Littlejohn, Oceana's senior vice president, said he seriously questions Amazon's commitment to being "climate-friendly" and that Amazon is not going to significantly reduce its huge, growing plastic footprint as product sales continue to increase each year.
