Some boxes delivered by Amazon will have the same look on the inside as they do on the outside as devices from the company are being packaged in new-look materials that are more sustainable.
Packaging for Echo, Kindle, and Fire TV products features a brown kraft box design that should be familiar to Amazon customers. On Wednesday, Maiken Moeller-Hansen, the company’s director of Device Sustainability, announced all that goes into making the packaging friendly to customers and the environment.
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No plastic: One of the key changes is the removal of plastic wrapping on the outside and inside of device boxes. Amazon originally used outer plastic wraps and laminations to protect boxes from damage during shipping. That’s been replaced with water-based coating. Inside the box, recyclable paper-based wraps are now used to protect a device.
More recycled fibers and less ink: The new packaging introduces, on average, 30% more recycled fiber content, reducing the reliance on virgin tree-based and bleached fibers. There is also 60% less ink, giving the unbleached boxes their brown appearance. Bleaching uses chemicals that can be harmful to the environment, and the process of bleaching can be carbon intensive, Amazon said.
Less paper inside: The boxes will feature QR codes that allow customers to scan and access quick-start and detailed setup instructions. Select packaging will also feature tactile markings to help blind and low-vision customers find the code.
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The new-look packaging was seen in the wild this week when Amazon’s Panos Panay, vice president of Devices and Services, handed out free Kindle Paperwhites in Seattle.
In addition to the packaging changes, Moeller-Hansen said Amazon is tweaking how it ships devices to warehouses. For example, the company looks for ways to make device boxing more compact to increase how many products can fit on a pallet. And shipping from final assembly via ocean rather than air is said to lower emissions.
Amazon has also worked on reducing shipping emissions by compacting box sizes and relying on ocean transport, which emits 95% less carbon than air transport. Since 2015, the company has cut packaging weight per shipment by 43%, avoiding over 3 million metric tons of packaging waste, including nearly 15 billion plastic air pillows annually in packaging.
Reducing and changing packaging is one part of Amazon’s efforts to reduce its vast carbon emissions in service of meeting The Climate Pledge and reaching net-zero carbon by 2040.
This summer, the company reported that its carbon footprint shrank by 3% last year, marking its second straight year of decline. Amazon’s annual sustainability report touted its clean energy accomplishments and its growing electric delivery fleet while acknowledging the challenges ahead. For Amazon and other tech giants, ambitious climate targets will run up against surging energy demands created by the increased use of artificial intelligence and tools that incorporate it.
The company pushed back against a recent survey of employees by an internal group which questioned how committed Amazon was to addressing its climate impacts.