Read the full story in the Seattle Times.
Even before 2020’s e-commerce shopping binge, the huge amount of plastic waste generated by Amazon deliveries posed serious problems for global waterways, according to a report Tuesday from environmental nonprofit Oceana. The company has boosted the amount of plastic packaging it uses each of the last three years, the report said.
Despite efforts to make its packaging more sustainable, Amazon dominates online produced enough plastic waste last year to encircle the globe 500 times in the form of its air pillows, the report estimated. Less than 1% of that waste makes its way into rivers, lakes and oceans — but that still amounts to the equivalent of dumping one delivery van worth of plastic into waterways every 70 minutes, according to the report.
