Amazon India To Stop Single-Use Plastic In Packaging, Follows Flipkart's Footstep

In a bid to eliminate single-use plastic in packaging, Amazon India announced to replace all single-use plastic in its packaging by June 2020 with paper cushions, on September 4.

The company in a post said that they are developing plastic-free alternatives for packaging mailers, bubble bags, stretch wraps and tape used during packaging.

In the post, the company said that less than 7 per cent of the packaging in its fulfilment centres is single-use plastic and all such materials will be collected by the end of September. The company mentioned that the packaging material such as corrugated boxes and paper cushions are 100 per cent recycled content and are fully recyclable.

“Amazon India is committed to a sustainable supply chain,” Amazon India’s vice president Akhil Saxena said in a statement. Saxena further added that investment in protecting the environment is good for the planet, customers, and the business.

The move to weed out the use of single-use plastic by Amazon came a week after Walmart Inc’s local e-commerce unit Flipkart said it had cut down on plastic use by 25 per cent and planned to shift to 100 per cent recycled plastic by 2021.

The announcement from both of the major e-commerce players comes days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speculated move to announce scrapping of certain varieties of plastic by 2022.

PM Modi in his Independence Day speech had urged people and government agencies to “take the first big step” by October 2 towards, in making India plastic-free.

Indian Railways has already decided to ban single-use plastic materials on stations, train with effect from October 2, 2019. The Railway Board has asked its authorities to expedite the installation of 1,853 plastic water bottle crushing machines at 360 major stations. The board has directed the railway general managers of Zonal Railway and Production unit to ask railway vendors to avoid the use of plastic carry bags.

On August 29, Air India announced a ban on plastic products such as cups, bag, and straws on all its flight from October 2. Eco-friendly birch wood cutlery will replace plastic cutlery for special meals, whereas light-weight steel cutlery will replace crew meal cutlery, while Plastic tumblers and teacups will be replaced with their paper versions.

Also Read: Tribute To Mahatma Gandhi: India Likely To Ban Single-Use Plastic Products From Oct 2