Amazon to invest $10 m to increase packaging recycling rates

Amazon announced that it will invest $10 million in Closed Loop Fund to support recycling infrastructure in the United States. Closed Loop Fund invests in sustainable consumer goods, advanced recycling technologies, and the development of the circular economy.

Amazon’s investment will increase the availability of curbside recycling for 3 million homes in communities across the country, making it easier for customers to recycle and further develop end markets for recycled commodities.

The investment will divert 1 million tons (about 908 million kilograms) of recyclable material from landfill into the recycling stream and eliminate the equivalent of 2 million metric tons of CO2 by 2028—equivalent to shutting down a coal-fired power plant for six months.

“This investment will help build the local capabilities needed to make it easier for our customers and their communities to recycle and to increase the amount of material recycled across the country,” said Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of Worldwide Operations.

“We are investing in Closed Loop Fund’s work because we think everyone should have access to easy, convenient curbside recycling. The more we are all able to recycle, the more we can reduce our collective energy, carbon, and water footprint.”

Amazon’s investment in Closed Loop Fund furthers the company’s longstanding commitment to reducing packaging waste through its Frustration-Free Packaging programs, which are designed to produce less waste than traditional packaging.