How Amazon India Is Innovating in Its Progress Towards Net-Zero Carbon by 2040

Amazon India has started a multi-fold approach to reduce its carbon footprint across its operations in areas like energy, water and waste management. Here’s how.

By Ananya Barua

February 24, 2022

This article has been brought to you by Amazon India.

A scroll, a swipe, and check out — your online order is placed, and in a matter of days, it will be delivered to your doorstep. But if you are worried about the environmental impact accompanied by online orders, here is something you should know. Amazon India continues to innovate in its progress towards net-zero carbon by 2040 and has been actively investing in environmental initiatives such as the reduction of packaging waste and elimination of single-use plastic in packaging for products shipped from its Fulfilment Centers, among other initiatives.

In fact, you may already notice that some of your orders from Amazon India arrive in just the original packaging — thus reducing waste generated by packaging materials in the form of cardboard, paper cushions and plastic wraps.

Commitment To Reaching Net-Zero by 2040

Committed to reducing its carbon footprint through innovation and collaboration, Amazon India is working to inspire and encourage the community to be more environmentally responsible and energy-efficient. It was this goal that led Amazon to become a co-founder and first signatory of the Climate Pledge in 2019 – a commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its businesses by 2040, which is 10 years earlier than the goals set in the Paris Agreement. Having grown to over 200 signatories globally today, the Climate Pledge has gained momentum in India with signatories including Infosys Limited, UPL Limited, Greenko Group, and GODI.

Acknowledging that commitment and investment in sustainability is a win for all, Amazon is also working towards its Climate Pledge goals by adapting a multi-fold approach across its operations in areas like energy, water and waste management.

Reducing Packaging Waste

Amazon has continued to build on its efforts such as the complete elimination of single-use plastics from the Amazon India Fulfilment network since June 2020. It also rolled out Packaging Free Shipment, an India-first initiative that sees fulfilment centres either deliver products that are completely packaging-free or have significantly reduced packaging across cities in India, among other initiatives. The company has since shipped hundreds of thousands of packaging-free orders in more than 100 cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Hyderabad.

“Climate change is one of the most existential challenges of our time – reducing carbon emissions is not just an option, but an imperative. This requires a collective responsibility and we, at Amazon, are committed to building a sustainable business for our customers and the planet,” says Abhinav Singh, Director – Customer Fulfilment, Supply Chain and Global Specialty Fulfilment.

Electrification of Last-Mile Delivery Vehicles

Another effort embraced by the company has been to optimise and transform its transportation network, energy-efficient innovations, electrification projects, etc. For this, Amazon India is working with its Delivery Service Partners to induct a fleet of electric vehicles (EV) and will introduce 10,000 electric delivery vehicles in its fleet by 2025.

Working with multiple OEMs, including Mahindra Electric, Hero and others, Amazon India is enabling the deployment of EVs in its Delivery Service Partner fleet in multiple cities such as Bengaluru, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Indore and Lucknow.

Addressing the global crisis of climate change will take a combination of big, bold commitments and everyday actions. Every effort is a step towards positive transformation, not only for the company but for society at large. With a variety of initiatives on the line that can have the potential for significant impact, Amazon continues to stay committed to driving positive change across sectors and its value chains.

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