Almost half of Amazon shareholders have voted for a resolution asking the online retailer to report on how much plastic packaging it uses and to detail efforts to cut back.
Advocates for the proposal, which was approved by 48.9 percent of shareholders at the company's annual meeting May 25, portrayed it as sending a "clear signal" on plastics packaging.
As You Sow, a Berkeley, Calif.-based green investment advisory firm, said in a May 31 news release that when shares owned by Amazon's management are removed from the tally, 59 percent of shareholders voted for the resolution.
"This vote supported by a majority of non-management shareholders confirms that a wide range of mainstream investors are challenging Amazon to elevate the issue of plastic pollution and develop credible solutions to the global plastic pollution crisis now," said Conrad MacKerron, senior vice president at AYS.
"Amazon should respond swiftly to the clear signal sent by shareholders by disclosing how much plastic it uses and devising a plan to significantly reduce its reliance on single-use plastic packaging such as its ubiquitous blue and white plastic bubble mailers," he said.