Amazon?s plastic waste soars by a third amid pandemic, report finds

Amazon's plastic packaging waste soared by almost a third, to 270,000 tonnes, during the pandemic last year, according to a report from marine conservation group Oceana.

Oceana estimates up to 10,700 tonnes of this plastic, including air pillows, bubble wrap and plastic-lined paper envelopes, equivalent to a delivery van's worth every 67 minutes, is likely to end up in the sea.

Amazon, the western world's largest retailer, rejected Oceana's figures and said it had overestimated the plastic waste by 300%. It also questioned the model used to estimate the percentage likely to enter the sea. It did not provide alternative figures.

The retailer saw a boom in sales of 38%, to $386bn (£290bn) in 2020, when much of the world was in lockdown and online sales increased.

Oceana's report challenges the company's recycling pledges, using interviews with local municipal waste officials, stores linked to by Amazon's Second Chance recycling website and surveys of Amazon Prime customers. It concluded that the company's recycling efforts "will not significantly reduce its enormous (and growing) plastic footprint".

Matt Littlejohn, Oceana's senior vice-president, said: "We are using the best data available to us. If Amazon was transparent, we would gladly use their data. Yes, they are using more non-plastic packaging, but they are also selling a ton more product.

"We understand people need Amazon. And so we're hoping Amazon can fix this problem and become a leader in reducing plastic, which is really important for the oceans."