Criticism of Amazon's environmental impact

Amazon has been criticized for its negative impact on the environment. Critics have accused it of skirting environmental laws and of greenwashing.^[1][2][3][4] Amazon is the founding member of The Climate Pledge,^[5] a commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 for Amazon and other signatories to the pledge. However, critics have claimed that the Climate Pledge amounts to little more than corporate PR due to the disconnect between the stated goals and the actions taken by the company.^[6][7] A number of Amazon's environmental actions and commitments, including the Climate Pledge, has come after sustained activism by employees and outsiders.^[8][9]

A protestor with a sign reading "The wrong Amazon is burning", referring to the Amazon rainforest wildfires and Amazon's negative impact on the environment

Amazon has been accused of illegal retaliation against employees engaging in climate activism.^[10] On one occasion, the National Labor Relations Board found merit in an unfair labor practices suit.^[11] Amazon settled with the plaintiffs out of court.^[12]

The company's large scale, a heavy reliance on fossil fuels and plastic, and their anti-environmental lobbying practices^[13][14] contribute to the criticism. The company has repeatedly failed to disclose their emissions data in the past and currently discloses a subset of emissions data in a format that isn't aligned with reporting standards.^{[15][16][17][18][19]}

Lobbying against environmental protection laws

Amazon has been criticized for their lobbying practices. Amazon has supported lobbying groups like the US Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable, who have pushed back on environmental protection clauses in the democrat-led Build Back Better bill.^[20]

Amazon has lobbied for increased subsidies for Green Hydrogen, by silently backing the trade group Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA).^[21] Critics have raised numerous problems with Green Hydrogen, the primary one being that it requires a large amount of energy to produce and would merely move the emissions source from the vehicles themselves to the electrical grid.^[22][23] Amazon's lobbying has taken place despite its own studies finding that 95% of the world's green hydrogen is generated primarily in grids based on fossil fuels.^[21]

Amazon has a large number of data centers in Oregon^[24] and has been criticized for overwhelming the supply of renewable energy in the state, requiring it to import dirty energy from outside the state.^[25] In 2023, Amazon lobbied against environmental protection legislation (bill HB2816) in Oregon, which sought to ensure new data centers would run completely on renewable energy by 2040.^[26] Critics say that the bill was unsuccessful primarily due to Amazon's sustained lobbying efforts.^[27] Representative Pam Marsh, a co-sponsor of the bill, said "From the very first moment we started talking about this bill, Amazon started organizing against it."^[26]

Amazon co-founded the Emissions First Partnership, which aims to lobby against strong Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) regulations. They advocate for being able to use RECs independent of geographical origin, which would allow them to claim that their facilities are being powered by green energy, when in fact they would have just bought space in a foreign grid, disconnected from that of the US.^[28]

Fossil fuel emissions

Amazon has consistently attained a rating of F by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).^[29] Amazon has been pressured in the past by some of its employees, via shareholder resolutions, to disclose emissions, but has rejected all proposals.^[30][29][31]

Amazon has been criticized for selective reporting of emissions, not aligned with reporting standards.^[16][17] Amazon only reports on the emissions from private brand products, which make up an estimated 1% of its total sales.^[17]

Destruction of unsold and returned products

An investigation by ITV in 2021 found that Amazon was destroying 130,000 items of unsold stock a week at one of the company's fulfillment centers in Scotland.^[32] The investigation uncovered a leaked document which had 124,000 items marked "destroy" and 28,000 items marked "donate". Amazon denied these claims.^[33] Amazon has faced similar accusations in Germany and France, with the countries enacting new laws to make it more difficult for Amazon to continue such practices.^[34]

Role in exporting plastic waste to be burnt in India

An investigation by Bloomberg in December 2022 revealed that plastic waste intended for recycling in the US was ending up in India, where it was being burnt.^[35] The investigation did not single out Amazon but noted that the most ubiquitous packaging in the garbage heaps was by Amazon. The report said that Amazon produced its packaging with soft plastic, which was the most difficult and least economically viable to recycle, while still displaying the recyclable logo on the products. Amazon declined to comment on the report.^[35]

Sale of climate change denial books

Amazon has sold climate change denial books that have been criticized as disinformation.^[36]

Sale of illegal pesticides

Amazon has been prosecuted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for their role, between 2013 and 2016, in importing, warehousing, packaging, shipping, and profiting from pesticides and insecticides that are illegal in the US.^[37] In 2018, Amazon entered a settlement with the EPA and agreed to pay $1.2 million in penalties.^[38]

PFAS in packaging

Amazon faced a class-action lawsuit in 2020 over their use of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), colloquially known as "forever chemicals", in its Amazon Kitchen brand product, including disposable plates and bowls. The lawsuit claimed that Amazon marked the products as compostable when PFAS are not considered compostable.^[39][40] The lawsuit was dropped and Amazon made a policy update to not use PFAS in their Amazon Kitchen branded products.

Delivery fleet

Amazon has been criticized for an over-reliance on fossil-fuel powered vehicles in its delivery fleet.^[41][42]