Amazon says it has hit another milestone in reducing its use of plastic packaging, eliminating 95 percent of plastic air pillow filler in its shipments. Instead, it is installing equipment to use paper as a replacement filler at its warehouses.
The e-commerce company says it will avoid using nearly 15 billion air pillows annually, marking its largest single reduction in plastics to date.
"We are working towards full removal in North America by end of year and will continue to innovate, test and scale in order to prioritize curbside recyclable materials," Pat Lindner, vice president of mechatronics and sustainable packaging for Amazon, said in a June 20 news release.
The swap comes a little more than a year after Amazon said it was phasing out its white and blue plastic flexible mailers. It had been using 189.4 million pounds of plastic each year for the mailers.
Amazon says it began the process by eliminating all plastics from an Ohio shipping site in late 2023, including bringing in recycled paper as a plastic pillow replacement, to test alternatives at a commercial scale at a site employing thousands. The paper filler is recyclable in curbside collection programs, while plastic film typically must be taken to drop-off centers.