Amazon said Wednesday it will ditch single-use plastic packaging in India by next year, joining Walmart-backed rival Flipkart in a major push by e-commerce giants in the South Asian nation.

India generates around 5.6 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, according to government figures, with New Delhi ramping up its "clean India" mission to eradicate single-use plastic in recent weeks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also called on businesses to join his campaign.

"Amazon India is committed to a sustainable supply chain," Amazon India's vice president Akhil Saxena said in a statement.

"Investment in protecting the environment ensures a triple win -- it is good for our planet, good for our customers and community, and good for the business."

Amazon India said it was developing plastic-free alternatives for bubble wraps and mailers, and would collect plastic at its warehouse networks from this month.

The online retailer aims to scrap single-use plastic packaging by June 2020 and have 50 percent of all shipments at zero net carbon by 2030.

Flipkart last week said it would eliminate single-use plastic in packaging and shift to 100 percent recycled plastic by 2021.

"It is a necessary and a crucial step to reduce plastic waste and in tandem with government policy," Forrester Research analyst Satish Meena told AFP.

"Both Flipkart and Amazon should learn from Chinese e-commerce industry on how to reduce packaging waste at the source and offer customers multiple options to reduce unwanted plastic packaging."

National flag carrier Air India last week said it would stop using single-use plastic and replace packaging with eco-friendly paper and use wooden cutlery.

Amazon and Walmart -- which bought a 77-percent share in Indian e-commerce behemoth Flipkart last year -- are investing billions of dollars in the country's rapidly growing online consumer market.

Amazon last month opened its largest-ever campus in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

vm/grk/mtp

AMAZON.COM

WALMART

Related Links
Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Indonesia sends back hundreds of shipping containers full of waste
Jakarta (AFP) Sept 4, 2019
Indonesia has sent hundreds of garbage-filled shipping containers back to their countries of origin, according to the customs agency, as the Southeast Asian nation pushes back against becoming a dumping ground for foreign trash. About 250 containers seized across the archipelago in recent months have already been returned and authorities are inspecting more than 1,000 others, a customs official said. Among them, 49 containers of waste seized on Batam Island near Singapore have been shipped back ... read more