GEORGE TOWN – A global coalition of more than 120 environmental organisations has dispatched a letter to the world's leading e-commerce provider. In it, they have asked the company to switch its packaging of goods and produce towards plastic-free or reusable packaging in marking the international Earth Day celebrations.
Earth Day is observed on April 22 annually. This year's theme is 'Restore Our Earth', which focuses on natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems.
In a statement emailed to The Vibes from the American-based Beyond Plastics movement, its digital director, Eve Fox, said that the coalition aims to address the staggering amount of single-use plastic pollution it generates.
This can be made possible by shifting to plastic-free and reusable packaging, including in Malaysia, where it has a sizeable footprint.
The groups sent a letter urging Amazon’s outgoing and incoming chief executive officers – Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy – to take immediate steps to prevent an alleged more than 465 million pounds of plastic packaging waste the company produces on an annual basis.
A December 2020 report by the environmental group Oceana found that Amazon was responsible for adding more than 22 million pounds of this plastic pollution to the world’s oceans and waterways in 2019, alone. As serious as the statistics detailed in Oceana’s report are, the situation today is undoubtedly worse as Amazon’s net sales increased by 38% in 2020 due to a massive spike in sales driven by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Oceana’s report notes that Amazon’s 2019 impact was the equivalent of dumping a delivery van’s worth of plastic into the oceans every 70 minutes. With at least 15 million metric tons of plastic waste entering our oceans each year, it’s no surprise that an estimated 90% of all seabirds and more than half of all sea turtles have ingested plastic.
The plastic films used in Amazon packaging are often mistaken for food by sea turtles, which can prove fatal. They hope that the tech company can lead the e-commerce industry – which is growing rapidly due to the constraints caused by the pandemic and the push for digitalisation – to embrace zero-waste delivery systems.
“Amazon could eliminate plastic packaging with a single, top-down decision if its CEO were motivated to do so,” said Fox. He added that “changing the marketplace conditions to favour reuse, bolster recycling, and shift the responsibility for dealing with waste from consumers to producers are among the reasons we support the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act that was recently reintroduced in Congress by Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Alan Lowenthal."
The letter was signed by 122 organisations from around the globe.
“Plastic is not only a problem for our oceans; it is also a major driver of the climate crisis,” said Dianna Cohen, CEO and co-founder of Plastic Pollution Coalition.
In another development, Intel Malaysia through a press release has revealed that it is now harnessing solar energy to help power its six buildings across its Kulim and Penang campus, thanks to a new 3.2 megawatt (MW) solar installation completed in January this year.
The installation is achieving 4.1MW in total installed capacity which is provided by Nefin, a renewable energy developer. The project is Intel’s largest solar farm outside of the U.S. The construction work began last year which presented many challenges. Nonetheless, the solar system was put into operation in January this year.
“Our continued investment in alternative energy is a key pillar of Intel’s continued commitment to operating our manufacturing facilities with the lowest impact on the environment.
"The use of renewable power generated on-site at Intel Malaysia is a critical part of Intel’s efforts as a responsible corporate citizen to do better by our planet and as part of our Rise 2030 goals of achieving 100% renewable power,” said Robin Martin, corporate vice-president and general manager of Assembly Test Manufacturing and managing director of Intel Malaysia. – The Vibes, April 24, 2021
