Amazon Under Fire For Contributing To Global Crisis With Single Plastic Packaging

Amazon is now put on the spot for using a plastic range that cannot be recycled for packaging.

Amazon’s Second Chance site is now under critics’ scrutiny after using a range of plastic that cannot be recycled for packaging in the U.K.. The company’s step of switching from their old wrapping to the single-use plastic for their prime packaging poses a threat to the fight against pollution.

The world’s largest online retailer’s move to change its parcel packaging comes completely opposite to what majority of the public establishment aims to do. Supermarkets and other sales and service providing establishments are now rallying together to reduce, if not completely eliminate, the consumption of single-use plastic bags and carriers.

Reason Behind Switch

Amazon recently switched it Prime packaging from the easily recyclable cardboard packaging to the single-use plastic envelop wrapping for their deliveries. The switch was reportedly to make more room for parcels to be loaded on delivery trucks as recyclable cardboard packaging uses up larger space.

Initial Effects

Being one of the largest online retailers, Amazon produces a large amount of packaging in every batch of delivery. These packaging, if not utilized properly will create a significant impact on waste management and disposal.

In February, Amazon envelops were reported to clog up the U.S. recycling centers. The problem was primarily due to the consumer’s inability to properly dispose or place their used Amazon packaging in the trash or recycling bins.

What Amazon Customers Think About The Switch

Surprised to receive their Amazon parcels now in a single-use non-recyclable plastic envelops and bags, Amazon customers see the world’s largest online retailer’s act as madness. In the midst of the world’s step towards sustainability, customers see Amazon going the other way.

Adrian Fletcher, an Amazon customer from Glasgow complained as she received her parcel in a plastic packaging that cannot be recycled. She said she requested for her orders to be shipped in the old recyclable cardboard packaging that she usually reuses after delivery, but her request was ignored.

Fletcher describes Amazon’s move as a major step backward in the U.K.’s fight against single-use plastic consumption.