
New Delhi: Amazon may consider bringing several global innovations to India to manufacture sturdy recyclable paper packaging as the e-commerce company works to reduce the use of plastic in its deliveries.
The move is part of the company’s broader effort to eliminate plastic delivery packaging.
For years, the e-commerce firm has been researching and experimenting to find solutions for delivering products to customers using paper.
Its fulfilment centre in Euclid, Ohio, was the first in the US to replace plastic delivery packaging with paper packaging solutions that are curbside recyclable. “By rebuilding existing machines to use paper instead of plastic, creating durable and flexible paper packaging, improving made-to-fit technology, and transitioning from plastic air pillows to paper filler, the team enabled the Euclid fulfilment centre to transition fully to paper packaging," the company said in an October blogpost on eliminating plastic packaging.
Given the size and scope of a market like India, where e-commerce adoption is rapidly increasing, the company is in active conversations with the local team to bring such technology into India.
“India is a country that we are continuing to evaluate. It’s an important marketplace for us, and we’re continuing to bring innovation to it. I think there’s potential for this. We’re just under evaluation with it right now," said Pat Lindner, vice president of mechatronics and sustainable packaging at Amazon.
While Lindner refused to give specific timelines for taking such technology to India, he said the move was currently being evaluated.
This work is part of a multi-year effort to convert US fulfilment centres to paper. Such new paper solutions will provide the convenience of allowing many customers to recycle at home. Like most retailers, Amazon has traditionally used a mix of plastic and paper packaging to optimize durability, weight, and size.
However, recycling plastic packaging requires customers to head to a drop-off location. For years, its packaging engineers have been researching and experimenting to ensure the right solutions for delivering products to customers with paper.
Amazon has spent years developing a new machine that creates on-demand, curbside-recyclable, made-to-fit packages for products that require more protection than a non-padded bag. This machine measures an order’s dimensions and makes a right-sized, protective package using a flexible and lighter corrugate than the typical box.
India’s e-commerce market, though nascent, is set to boom. According to an April report by marketing data and analytics company Kantar, India has gained 125 million online shoppers in the past three years, with another 80 million expected to join by 2025.
As e-commerce order volumes surge, companies are looking for solutions to lower packaging costs and ensure the use of sustainable packaging.
“We are discussing what technology is best for them with our local teams. We have to consider the needs of the customers, the cost, supplier availability, whether these machines can be made, and whether the paper supply can be produced in India. If not, we have to import. So we’re going through all those evaluations now," he added.
Amazon India has already eliminated all single-use, thin-film plastic packaging originating from its fulfilment network since 2020 and introduced packing paper and paper cushions to replace plastic air pillows and bubble wraps. Additionally, as part of its packaging reduction programme announced in 2019, the company enables orders in India to be shipped in their original packaging or with reduced packaging.
However, it is stepping up efforts globally to move away from plastic packaging and reduce its overall packaging material usage.
“We’re looking at not only India, but we also have similar types of machines in Japan; we are expanding in Australia. So, I would consider India right now as the next place we are looking at prototyping, but we don’t have plans to scale. We’re trying to learn from this technology and get as much knowledge from customer feedback as possible, then really understand the local market needs and decide whether this is a solution," he said.
In 2022 alone, Amazon reduced single-use plastic delivery packaging by 11.6% across its global operations by expanding to paper-based packaging.
Comments