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Guilty of the blue and white Amazon plastic bags lying around your house? Don’t be afraid – they can be recycled! At least, that’s what the packaging says.
For years, Amazon’s plastic bags, bubble-lined mailers, and air mattresses have featured the ubiquitous “Chasing Arrow” recycling symbol along with the words “Store Delivered.” The idea is simple: Since most curbside recycling programs don’t accept this type of plastic—it’s too expensive to process and could clog machines—consumers can drop it off at retail stores across the country. From there, the plastic, known as “film,” is sent to specialized facilities and turned into new products.
The problem, however, is that the system doesn’t seem to be working properly.
one investigation A report released Tuesday by the nonprofit Environment America and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG) shows that only a small portion of Amazon’s plastic packaging reaches material recovery facilities, which recycle glass, metal, plastic and other materials. Perform classification operations. Items for recycling. Packaging is more likely to end up in landfills, incinerators, export terminals, or in the hands of companies that recycle plastic film into items like benches.
The report adds to growing evidence that store delivery programs are ineffective in tackling the escalating plastic pollution crisis. According to environmental groups, these schemes help justify the continued production of single-use plastics, helping manufacturers and retailers avoid responsibility while alleviating consumer guilt.
“The drop-off systems at stores really don’t work, and the plastic film is not recyclable,” said Jenn Engstrom, director of the California chapter of PIRG USA and co-author of the report.
To get a handle on Amazon’s plastic packaging, U.S. PIRG and the U.S. Department of Environment installed small tracking devices (mainly Apple AirTags) on 93 bundles of Amazon plastic packaging marked for store delivery and deposited them at retailers in 10 states at. The stores are listed in online directories and mainly include supermarkets such as Safeway, Sprouts, Publix, Fred Meyer, QFC and Whole Foods, although there are also some bundles at stores like Kohl’s or Home Depot.
The report’s authors were able to determine the fate of about half of the packages because, as expected, many trackers may have died before reaching their final destination. Of the pieces that survived, 13 were sent to landfills, two to incinerators and three to the Port of Los Angeles, suggesting the packages were destined for processing or disposal overseas.
Only four tracers eventually reached the materials recovery facility where the plastic is sorted for recycling. U.S. PIRG and the U.S. Department of Environment said they were able to contact three of the facilities: two of them explicitly said they would not accept Amazon packaging, and the third said it only accepted paper and cardboard.
Two dozen trackers ended up in the hands of Trex, a company that makes benches and flooring from discarded plastic. But U.S. PIRG and the U.S. Department of the Environment have questioned whether Trex uses Amazon packaging in its products; store bins are often littered with food and drink, which could make this plastic too contaminated to be used in manufacturing.
Trex did not respond to Grist’s request for comment, but a similar company reports that 70 to 80 percent of its plastics come from “Back-end shrink wrapping”, referring to the material wrapped on shipping pallets, which tends to be cleaner than post-consumer plastic. Meanwhile, a Trex executive told Bloomberg News Last year, demand for recycled materials was not enough for the store to make successful deliveries.
“All the claims made by these companies are just greenwashing,” he told Bloomberg. “Retrieval failed.”
While the USPIRG and Environment Department investigation may be the largest of its kind, it is not the first to uncover flaws in store delivery systems.Last year, Bloomberg tracked 30 bundles packed The wrappers were marked with a store delivery icon, and it was found that 13 of them (more than 40 percent) ended up in U.S. landfills. Only four people reached a location where the plastic could be recycled.Similar efforts come from abc news The study found that about half of the 46 bales of plastic bags were sent to landfills and incineration plants, while only four bales were sent to facilities that “claimed to be involved in recycling plastic bags.”
Jan Dell, an independent chemical engineer and founder of The Least Beach Cleanup, a nonprofit environmental organization, has also been deploying her own tracker. Since December 2022, she has not tracked a bundle of tagged film being sent to a U.S. factory to convert the material into new bags. Twelve bales have been sent to landfills or waste stations, and one bale has been sent to an incinerator. Four of them appeared to have traveled to Mexico, Vietnam or Malaysia, countries that generally lack adequate recycling infrastructure.
“They’re absolutely lying with these labels,” Dyer said. The store delivery system “never worked, it was never true.”
These tags are created by a project called ” How to recyclewhich began selling them to larger companies in 2012—supposedly for clear up confusion Consumers and retailers know which products can be recycled. The initiative has released several versions of recycling icons, including one marked “Store Recycling” that is reserved for products such as plastic bags and film that are not accepted by curbside recycling programs.
Store recycling labels direct consumers to How2Recycle’s website, which links to a directory of retail locations with collection containers. Until last year, the directory was found on BagandFilmDirectory.org, which contained more than 18,000 locations, but the consulting firm that managed the directory shut it down after an ABC News investigation, citing a lack of “A real commitment from the industry” and insufficient funds. Many locations listed There is actually no socketwhile Target and Walmart locations appear to be Dispose rather than recyclemost of the movies they receive.
Nina Butler, chief executive of the consultancy, said: “Because of the imbalance between supply and demand, people are fantasizing about recycling items more than they actually are.” told ABC News. How2Recycle now links customers to different directories Hosted by Earth 911. How2Recycle did not respond to Grist’s request for comment.
As restrictions on the use of store shipping labels grow, some companies have pledged to stop using them entirely.Mondelez, which owns brands including Oreo and Ritz, said in March 2023 that it planned Phase out the label by 2025. Dyer said she also noticed the label disappearing from packaging sold by Target and Georgia Pacific, a company that sells toilet paper, paper towels and other pulp products. Target and Georgia-Pacific did not respond to Grist’s request for comment.
Read next: Industry pushes for yogurt cups to be labeled “recyclable”
Amazon did not respond to Grist’s questions about its use of store shipping labels. When Dell asked the company for evidence in a 2020 Zoom meeting shared with Grist that its packaging was widely recycled through store recycling programs (as required by California law), an Amazon spokesperson told the state recycling committee that the company ” Very confident that store delivery is a solution that California can use.”
Pat Lindner, Amazon’s vice president of mechatronics and sustainable packaging, told Grist that the company has no control over how its packaging is disposed of “once it’s disposed of by a municipality or recycling center.” . A spokesman said the company was investing in improving recycling infrastructure while reducing overall plastic use.For example, as of last year, Amazon Eliminate plastic Goods delivered from Europe, possible Respond to EU regulations Several types of single-use plastics are banned.The company also India phase out plastic packaging On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise Nationwide ban on single-use plastics by 2022.
Last year, Amazon launched automated fulfillment center The Euclid, Ohio-based company, which uses paper packaging entirely instead of plastic, said it is stepping up a program to ship items in their original packaging instead of additional plastic packaging. The company also said in its 2022 sustainability report that it would “phase out liner bags containing plastic in favor of recyclable alternatives,” but a spokesperson did not respond to Grist’s request to clarify this transition timeline. .
Environmental advocates agree Amazon has made progress but say it should do more to reduce hundreds of millions of pounds of single-use plastic waste it generates every year – and the How2Recycle logo should be removed from packaging. In California, state legislation often sets national standards, Truth in Advertising Act A bill signed by the governor in 2021 could soon limit the use of store delivery labels unless companies can prove the system is effective. A separate law By 2032, at least 65% of single-use plastic packaging sold in the state can be visibly recycled, a threshold that could prompt manufacturers to switch to paper packaging that is easier to recycle.
This article was originally published on Grist exist https://grist.org/accountability/amazon-says-its-Plastic-packaging-can-be-recycled-an-investigation-finds-it-usually-isnt/. Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling the stories of climate solutions and a just future.For more information, please visit Grist website