Explore 2023 report
Sustainability

Reducing waste & packaging

We’re constantly working to prevent and reduce waste across our business. That includes the waste we produce in our operations, as well as customer waste, like packaging and retired products. We aim to avoid waste altogether through innovation, design, and operational efficiencies. We also offer programs to enable our customers to repair, resell, recycle, and repurpose their products.

Progress

~368M items were resold, liquidated, or donated in the U.S. and Europe by sellers with our help

An employee is shown pushing a cart past two stacks of cardboard Amazon boxes.

43% reduction in average per-shipment packaging weight in the U.S., Canada, and the EU since 2015, representing 3 million metric tons of packaging material avoided

100% of packaging material in Europe and India is household recyclable

Our approach

Amazon follows the industry standard for waste management, aiming to avoid creating any in the first place. When we can’t eliminate waste through design and other efficiencies, we increase the amount we reuse, repair, and recycle. Sending waste to landfill is our last resort.

This waste hierarchy is an industry framework that guides our approach to managing and preventing waste. It represents the most preferred option at the top to the least preferred at the bottom. We use this framework to better manage our waste, pursuing opportunities that are more preferred before moving down the hierarchy.

Prevent

We improve product and packaging design, inventory management, materials sourcing, and resource use to prevent waste from the start.

Reduce

We pursue avenues such as increased product durability and resale to reduce waste. We also work to prevent waste generation by helping customers make informed decisions, which reduces product returns, and offer several ways for them to support product circularity.

Reuse

We repair, repurpose, and donate usable items where possible.

Recycle

We recycle and compost to recover raw materials where possible, including food waste.

Incineration with energy recovery

Where prevention, reduction, reuse, or recycling aren’t possible, we target energy recovery.

Landfill and incineration without recovery

Both landfill and incineration without energy recovery are disposal methods strictly used as a last resort for waste that is either ineligible for or cannot be diverted to better recovery pathways.

 

The waste we generate falls into two categories: internal and external. We use prevention efforts, recycling programs, and other initiatives to reduce waste. 

Reducing food waste

To reduce food waste, we are improving our management and distribution channels and buying practices to minimize surplus food inventory. We also work to reduce our surplus by offering discounts on items at risk of becoming waste. Where food waste is not preventable, we are working to keep it out of landfills.

Our Goal

We’re working to reduce our food waste by 50% across our U.S. and Europe operations by 2030.

Spotlights

Food waste intensity

As of December 2023, our food waste intensity had decreased by 28% in the U.S. and by 75% in Europe compared to a 2021 baseline.
A close-up image of produce is shown below text that says: "Reducing food waste."

Amazon Fresh

As of the end of 2023, 62 Amazon Fresh stores in the U.S. and Europe divert food waste to organic recycling services, including those that support composting or anaerobic digestion.
Learn more
A close-up image of cracked eggs is shown below text that says: "Reducing food waste."

Whole Foods Market

In 2023, 452 Whole Foods Market locations had active organics diversion programs, which diverted over 87,000 tons of food waste from landfill.
A close-up image of freshly baked bread is shown below text that says: "Reducing food waste"

UL’s Zero Waste to Landfill certification

As of the end of 2023, four Amazon Fresh facilities had achieved UL’s Zero Waste to Landfill certification at Silver or Gold level. We secured this certification by improving operational waste sorting processes, standardizing recycling practices at all sites, introducing new associate trainings, and establishing new diversion pathways, including for food waste.
A close-up image of raspberries is shown below text that says "Reducing food waste."

Discounted items

Amazon Fresh online launched a program in the UK, Germany, Spain, and Italy to sell items with reduced shelf life at a discount. A similar program exists for Amazon Fresh stores in the U.S. Programs like these not only help our customers find food items at a lower price, but also contribute to our ambition to reduce food waste.
A close-up image of assorted cheeses is shown below text that says "Reducing food waste."

Partnering for circularity

We can’t solve all the challenges that underpin the broader shift to a circular economy alone, so we’re working with multiple industry partners to innovate and bring about change at scale.

[01]

Hands holding samples of fabric materials.
Fabric being woven.
  • In 2023, we expanded our collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to drive scalable, industry-wide solutions for a circular economy. As a Strategic Partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Network, we work to leverage our reach, technology, and innovation capabilities and the foundation’s subject-matter expertise to launch and scale circular economy solutions. This collaboration focuses on certifications for products with circular features, providing customers with the information they need to make more circular choices.
  • We also collaborated with WRAP in the UK to support innovation and improvement in the recycling industry. Our collaboration strives to transform recycling into a system that emphasizes recycled material quality and supports end markets for recycled output.
A device with a screen shows two people smiling into a camera.
A gloved hand holds a sticker with the Amazon logo and text that says "Thanks to you, this product has a second life."

Amazon Second Chance

This resource offers a range of services for customers to recycle, repair, or trade in their items, as well as shop for like-new and refurbished products. It also provides information about how to easily recycle or responsibly dispose of Amazon packaging.
Visit Amazon Second Chance  

Product donations & inventory recycling

We donate items that are safe to use but remain in our inventory after we try to reuse, resell, or repair them. Inventory that is not resold or donated may still be used, reused, or reclaimed through our inventory recycling program.

  • We leverage existing recycling streams where possible and work closely with recycling partners to find ways to recycle new types of materials.

  • A person crouched down in a garden.

    162M+ products donated worldwide in 2023

A hand is shown from above assembling a carboard box amidst tools on a table, alongside text about "Packaging innovation."

Packaging innovation

We use machine learning, materials innovation, and supplier partnerships to optimize our packaging. This leads to reduced waste and reduced weight, which ultimately helps reduce our carbon emissions. We’re also increasing the recyclability of our packaging for easy curbside recycling for our customers.
Explore packaging innovation  

Discover the latest in waste reduction

1 3

Article author image

Transcript