Amazon is Removing Plastic Air Pillows for All NA Package Deliveries

Amazon will start removing its plastic air pillows from all of its North American package deliveries as the retail giant goes eco-friendly with paper fillers.

Amazon announced on Thursday that it has already replaced the plastic air pillows with paper fillings for 95% of its NA deliveries to reduce plastic consumption and "curbside recyclability."

First tested in Ohio last October, the company claims that the new paper fillings provide "the same, if not better, protection to products than plastic air pillows."

All paper fillings that will be used are ensured to be 100% recycled and can be easily disposed of or recycled again once delivered.

Amazon, which generated 208 million pounds of plastic waste in 2022, previously vowed to reduce non-recyclable wastes in its packaging and deliveries amid growing operations since 2015.

So far, Amazon has already adopted similar delivery policies for its operations in Europe and India, while it rolled out made-to-fit paper packaging for its Australia and Japan facilities.

Plastic Reduction in US Operations to Drive Down Amazon Plastic Wastes

As Oceana has previously urged, the reduction of plastic waste materials for its US delivery operations is expected to impact the company's efforts to reduce pollution significantly.

The marine advocacy group earlier noted that plastic waste in Amazon warehouses has increased since 2021 as delivery operations experienced large growth following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The phaseout of plastic air pillows complies with the group's wishes for the company to reduce plastic packaging by "at least one-third" by 2030.

Amazon Pushes Carbon-Free NA Deliveries

Curbing plastic waste is not the only environmental commitment Amazon has made progress throughout the past months.

Earlier in May, the Federal Aviation Agency cleared Amazon to expand its US drone delivery services to curb carbon emissions during delivery operations.

Drones have been touted as a "sustainable alternative" in the logistics industry for remote and hard-to-reach areas without producing as much carbon footprint as regular vehicles emit.