Having dispensed with plastic packaging for shipments in Germany in 2022, US online mail order company Amazon (Seattle, Washington; www.aboutamazon.com) is now applying this policy to the whole of Europe.

From the end of 2023, the company said deliveries have been packed in pouches made of paper, cardboard envelopes, and cardboard boxes. This applies to items that Amazon sells itself as well as those from third-party sellers who handle shipping via the online retailer.

By its own account, Amazon increased the number of products shipped in Europe without additional outer packaging by more than half in 2023. The online retailer is working with manufacturers to ship more products in original cardboard and paper packaging, estimating that as a result more than 1 bn items of disposable plastic packaging have been avoided in Europe since 2019.

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Amazon said padded paper envelopes and reusable shipping bags are among the types of packaging it is currently testing throughout Europe.

The mail-order company, which plans to start selling vehicles online in the US soon, beginning with Hyundai, has announced its first drone deliveries in Europe for the end of 2024. Parcels weighing up to 2.5 kg will then be delivered in Italy and the UK by unmanned air freight “within an hour or less”. How this delivery method will work in detail, however, is still unclear .