Amazon delivers well over two billion packages every year and counting. And because it has its own cargo planes and freighters, the e-commerce giant is poised for domination over the logistics industry. This achievement is impressive, but have you ever stopped to consider exactly how many trees must be cut down to make the packaging for all of those shipments? In an era when environmental sustainability is a hot topic, it seems counterintuitive to order everything a household needs from Amazon, instead of making a shopping trip at the local store. This issue hasn’t gone unnoticed. Amazon is actively working on making its packages more environmentally friendly.
Frustration-Free Packaging
For over a decade, Amazon has had a team of nearly 100 people who work exclusively on improving the packaging of their items. The team has executed the Frustration-Free Packaging (FFP) initiative, which attempts to reduce the total amount of packaging material used for each item. In 2018, the FFP team stepped up its waste reduction efforts by announcing the FFP Program Certification Guidelines, which encourage more sustainable packaging. Amazon’s thousands of American vendors had the option to become early adopters of these guidelines and receive monetary incentives. Once the program was officially rolled out in 2019, vendors faced a chargeback for failing to adopt the guidelines.
Certification Tiers
There are three tiers aimed at reducing packaging waste. Tier One packages are shipped in 100% recyclable materials that do not require an Amazon overbox. In other words, they ship in the manufacturer’s own packaging. Tier Two packages, “Ships in Own Container,” have nearly the same requirements as Tier One, but may include some non-recyclable materials. Tier Three items, “Prep-Free Packaging,” are too small to ship in the vendor’s box, but do not require additional padding within the Amazon overbox.
No matter how your items are packaged, you can rely on the professional drivers at Xcel Delivery Services to get them to their destination on time and intact. You can also store your excess inventory at our secure warehouse in Tucson. Just give us a call at (520) 355-4897 for more information.
