

Amazon is a member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), an industry working group dedicated to a more robust environmental vision for packaging. Amazon has also joined the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA), an organisation focused on the specific concerns of transport packaging.

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33%ReductionOutbound packaging by weight
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1 MillionTonnesPackaging material eliminated
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2 MillionProductsQualify under our FFP Programmes

“Amazon is great from a collaboration perspective because they help us understand that the shopping journey is changing. We’re thinking differently about how we're actually packaging products.”
Machine Learning
How big of a box is needed for a given product? Is an Amazon box needed at all? To find out, we use machine learning algorithms to arrive at the best possible packaging choices for deliveries. That means identifying which products don’t need packaging at all, and which smaller products are suitable for envelopes or mailers. In cases where the protection of a box is needed, algorithms help us continuously optimize box choices to fit our ever-changing catalogue. Computer-aided engineering also helps us redesign boxes to use less material while making sure customer orders are protected. These improvements reduce volume per shipment, which means less unnecessary packaging and more efficient use of all forms of transportation, reducing carbon in small amounts to create a larger impact across our network.
We also use machine learning to help target products where even small packaging improvements can have significant impacts on reducing waste. We developed a machine learning model to identify liquid products with the highest average rates of customer reported damages. We then subjected those products to extensive additional testing at our Amazon Packaging Lab, where we simulate a package’s journey from the manufacturer to the customer.
Through this process, we’ve teamed up with companies like Rieke—a packaging solutions firm that makes dispensing systems for personal care, food, and healthcare products—to provide data and packaging insights on many of the conventional dispensing systems that are used in millions of products on Amazon. By strengthening materials, creating new locking mechanisms to prevent pumps from twisting open, and sealing potential leak points, Rieke’s team has created dispensers specially designed to withstand the journey to the customer. These new and improved designs include trigger sprayers common on household cleaners and personal care products, pumps for lotions, and pumps for foams.
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International Safe Transit Association
Amazon joined the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA), an organization focused on the specific concerns of transport packaging. ISTA is a nonprofit, member-driven association that sets the standards for optimizing the resources in packages that are designed to be survivable, sustainable, and successful. -
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Sustainable Packaging Coalition
Amazon joined the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), an industry working group dedicated to a more robust environmental vision for packaging. SPC uses strong member support, an informed and science-based approach, supply chain collaborations, and continuous outreach to build packaging systems that encourage economic prosperity and a sustainable flow of materials.