Amazon Invests $10 Million in US Recycling Fund

Amazon Invests $10 Million in US Recycling Fund

Amazon has announced its plans to introduce two new initiatives to seriously reduce its carbon footprint. It plans to invest $10 million in the ‘Closed Loop’ fund and install solar panels, which it hopes will reduce its carbon footprint by 6000 metric tonnes of CO2 each year.

The Closed Loop Fund was founded in 2014, and it gives cities across America the capital to introduce effective recycling programmes. The fund aims to invest a total of $100 million by 2020 to increase recycling rates in communities across the US. It estimates that over the next 10 years, more than 16 million tonnes of greenhouse gas will be eliminated, more than 8 million tonnes of waste will be diverted from landfill, and municipal authorities will save over $60 million on waste management and disposal.

Amazon’s $10 million investment will make kerbside recycling available to 3 million homes across the country, and it will divert an estimated 1 million tonnes of recyclable materials from landfill.

The benefits aren’t just environmental

About half of Americans don’t have access to an adequate kerbside recycling programme which means that tonnes of waste ends up just being thrown in the bin. But it’s not only the environment that benefits from good recycling programmes. If more materials are recycled, this can mean that goods don’t cost as much and as most recycling is done locally, it can create jobs.

Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations said that Amazon invested in the fund because it believes that the more we’re able to recycle, the more we can reduce our overall energy, carbon, and water footprint.

The CEO of the Closed Loop Fund said that Amazon’s investment is an example of how recycling is good business, and that companies are catching onto the fact that they can do business and reduce costs while supporting a more sustainable future. He praised Amazon’s commitment to reducing waste and added that he hoped other companies would follow suit.

Amazon’s commitment to reducing packaging waste

Amazon’s investment in the Closed Loop Fund is the latest initiative in its aim to reduce waste. Ten years ago, the company introduced Frustration-Free Packaging, and it worked with manufacturers to help them redesign their packaging and eliminate waste at each stage of the supply chain. Amazon has eliminated 244,000 tonnes of packaging materials so far.