Earlier this week, Amazon France announced that by the end of this year, the company will no longer use single-use plastic sleeves for shipping its packages to France. These plastic bags will be replaced with paper pouches and cardboard envelopes for all orders of small items shipped from Amazon fulfillment centers in France, as larger products are already sent in boxes.
This is clearly an opportunity for the celluslose-based packaging specialists to push their innovations to this major buyer and specifier.
In addition, Amazon will increase the number of products shipped in their original packaging provided by the manufacturer, with the only addition of a label with the address of the end customer. According to the company, these flexible paper pouches or cardboard envelopes “are more easily recyclable by waste collection and treatment services”. “We have made changes to our supply network in France, which allows us to do away with single-use plastic bags,”. David Lewkowitz, director of operations at Amazon France Logistique commented: “Customers are now receiving an increasing number of orders in easily recyclable paper and cardboard packaging. And we will continue to innovate and find solutions to use even more sustainable materials.”
This type of cellulose packaging from Amazon has already been the norm in India since 2020. Not quite like in the United Kingdom where, in 2019, the platform has gone the other way, replacing its cardboard packaging solutions with plastic envelopes with bubble wrap.
Amazon claims to have reduced the weight of its packages by around 36% since 2015 and “eliminated more than one million tonnes of packaging material, corresponding to two billion shipping boxes”.
