Creating recyclable eco-friendly mailers requires the expertise of scientists, engineers, and technicians at Amazon’s materials and packaging laboratory.
The dream of recyclable eco-friendly mailers
According to a report by Amazon, they reduced single-use plastic consumption by 11.6% in 2022 compared to the previous year. The company switched to using alternative materials, such as paper, to achieve this reduction.
Previously, shipping bags often used bubble wrap or plastic padding to cushion and protect products during transportation. Nowadays, the padding layer is replaced with recyclable materials, making Amazon’s shipping mailers environmentally friendly.
While bubble wrap padded paper bags tend to be stiff, difficult to open, and require more packing time, paper mailers can address these issues. The key is to create voids within the padding layer, allowing the paper bags to flex while maintaining effective product protection compared to conventional bags.
Recycled mailer and significant positive outcomes
Justine Mahler, one of the directors at Amazon, states that this is a lightweight, foam-like material and is considered a “dream” in the packaging industry.
With this improvement, delivery personnel can minimize the use of bulky cardboard boxes, saving space on transportation vehicles such as delivery trucks and airplanes. Instead, compact shock-resistant paper bags are used, allowing more items to be delivered per trip, meaning fewer trips, less fuel consumption, and reduced carbon emissions.
Over 100 million paper bags have been implemented at Amazon, reducing waste, saving fuel, and being recyclable.
>>> Paper-padded mailing bags – Sustainable transportation packaging
Eco-friendly mailers: A sustainable step forward
Kim Houchens, Director of Customer Packaging Experience at Amazon, notes that using recyclable shipping paper bags has contributed significantly to a 33% reduction in packaging weight and saved over 810,000 tons of material, equivalent to 1.5 billion boxes.
Additionally, this change positively impacts the environment, especially the oceans, as less than 10% of plastic waste worldwide is properly recycled.
Matt Littlejohn, Senior Vice President of the Ocean Conservancy, supports Amazon’s initial steps and emphasizes the need for the brand to have specific deadlines for reducing plastic packaging.
Amazon’s shift towards using recyclable packaging is a significant step forward. This change positively impacts the e-commerce industry as a whole and consumers, retailers in particular, in the journey towards sustainability.
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Recyclable paper packaging solution
With over 20 years of providing printing and packaging solutions to customers and partners in more than 20 countries, we understand the importance and urgency of using sustainable packaging solutions for businesses.
Khang Thanh proudly accompanies you with sustainable packaging solutions:
- Paper boxes, carton boxes
- Gift boxes
- Paper bags, gift bags
- Paper padded mailers
- Point-of-sale materials
KHANG THANH – HOUSE OF PACKAGING
Tel: 077 8878 222
Email: info@khangthanh.com