Amazon generated 599 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2020, with up to 23.5 million pounds polluting the worlds' oceans, new research found.
That is equivalent of dumping a delivery van’s payload of plastic into the oceans every 67 minutes, marine conservation group Oceana Inc said in a report.
The total amount of plastic packaging from the US online retail giant surged 29% compared to 2019 due to the upturn in packages delivered during the pandemic.
"The report exposes Amazon’s empty recycling promises," Oceana said.
"Our report found that Amazon's plastic packaging pollution problem is growing at a frightening rate at a time when the oceans need corporate leaders like Amazon to step up and meaningfully commit to reducing their use of single-use plastic [and] Amazon has shown it can do this in large markets like India and Germany, [so] It now needs to commit to doing so worldwide," said Matt Littlejohn, Oceana's senior vice president for strategic Initiatives.
The bulk of Amazon’s plastic packaging is plastic film – a material that is extremely difficult to recycle and is not accepted at most curbside recycling programs in the UK and US.
While Amazon has promised to eliminate single-use plastic packaging it is only in some markets, such as Germany.
Oceana surveyed 1,400 Amazon Prime customers in 25 different cities across the UK and US to find that 74.5% of their packaging went into the bin and hence, in landfills or the environment.
Meanwhile, 91% of customers want Amazon to reduce its use of plastic packaging and 740,000 people have signed a petition asking Amazon for plastic-free choices, the report said.
Studies estimate that 55% of sea birds, 70% of marine mammals, and 100% of sea turtles have ingested or been entangled in plastic, while just 9% of plastic ever produced has been recycled.