Six ways we're turning hard-to-recycle materials into opportunity

From specialized vendors to innovative remanufacturing processes, we're developing practical solutions that help keep waste out of landfills.

Amazon safely delivers millions of products to customers every day while working to systematically reduce waste throughout our operations network. We consider waste a defect and work across our business to implement circular solutions—approaches that keep materials productive through reusing, repurposing, or recycling instead of sending them to landfills or incineration with energy recovery. In retail operations, cardboard and wood constitute 65% of our waste stream, and we recycled nearly all of it in 2024.

We classify other materials that can’t be recycled through standard channels as hard-to-recycle. This waste requires thoughtful problem solving, which is why we take a data-driven approach to finding viable solutions.

Amazon uses a combination of data sources to inform our strategy. We’ve developed dashboards that track waste by material type, conducted detailed waste audits in collaboration with our waste vendors, and gained insights from trials using specialized artificial intelligence (AI) technology to monitor on-site waste disposal in real time. We identify the materials we don’t have processing options for and work to find ways to recycle or avoid them altogether.

Our approach starts with targeted pilot projects—small-scale initiatives that help us understand how we need to change our operations and recycling methods. These tests reveal what works before we implement initiatives more broadly, helping our associates and waste vendors adopt them more easily.

Innovation thrives on diverse perspectives, which is why we also welcome suggestions from across our organization. Amazon associates often identify practical improvements based on their experiences. Our procurement teams integrate sustainability into purchasing decisions, scientists contribute insights into new materials, and our global waste team provides strategic oversight and long-term planning. This collaboration ensures we act on the best ideas regardless of where they originate.

Addressing these challenges at a global scale is complex, especially because recycling infrastructure and capabilities vary greatly across countries. We must be flexible and creative to develop material-specific solutions.

Here are six ways we’re addressing hard-to-recycle materials:

Identifying vendors

We’re testing different recycling pathways with specialized vendors in four countries to process the fabric-based shelving units we rely on in many fulfillment centers. The units are composed of multiple materials, making them difficult to recycle. So is the protective paper layer that peels off the back of self-adhesive labels due to a thin layer of silicone that protects the glue. Over the past 18 months, we’ve worked with our waste vendors in the United States to enable recycling of this label backing at over 70% of our customer fulfillment sites in the country, and we’ve tested potential solutions to unlock recycling for different types of label backing in the United Kingdom.

“Only by working in collaboration and robustly testing niche solutions are you able to move forward on these types of materials,” said Simon Jones, head of corporate accounts at Biffa, which is one of Amazon’s vendors in the U.K. “Amazon is always willing to challenge both vendors and themselves, meaning that collectively we can keep pushing forward to achieve the ambitious targets we seek to support.”

Phasing out materials

We’re phasing out as many single-use materials as possible in our operations. At a fulfillment center in Italy, for example, we’re testing an innovative solution that doesn’t use the hard-to-recycle shipping label backing at all. We’re also expanding our use of reusable carts, which can move products safely once they enter our operations, as an alternative to the combination of wood pallets and shrink wrap.

Making capital investments

In some situations, we invest in specialized equipment to better process materials. This approach can transform certain hard-to-recycle materials into viable recyclable commodities. Plastic shrink wrap, for example, is used to protect items that vendors and sellers ship to us. While recyclable, shrink wrap must first be densified by machine compaction in order to be collected and processed efficiently. We’re investing in expanding our on-site balers to compact the shrink wrap and increase the volume that can be recycled. To do this most effectively, we’re prioritizing this expansion at sites with the highest volume of shrink wrap.

Leveraging AI to identify materials

We're using smart technology to better understand what materials are in our waste streams by working with Intuitive AI, the company behind Oscar Sort—the AI recycling assistant that uses computer vision to analyze waste in real time. These cameras are being trialed in stores and fulfillment centers across North America, with more being installed in our offices worldwide, giving us data about waste composition and helping us spot contamination patterns.

We're also using AI technology to understand materials in returned inventory that can't be sold or donated. Our technology team is training an advanced AI model to recognize the different materials in these products, helping to unlock new recycling pathways.

Implementing new processes

At our smaller delivery stations in North America that don’t generate enough recyclable materials like shrink wrap and label backing paper to warrant a dedicated pickup, we’re testing new collection and consolidation processes. By working with vendors to transport low-volume materials to central hubs, we can aggregate material to meet the minimum volume required for recycling—and ideally increase the number of sites that can recycle these materials from 73% in 2025 to 100% in 2026.

"When others see trash, I see an opportunity to get creative with our processes and systems,” Amazon Operations Manager Jon Woodward said. “Whether it's rethinking how we handle materials on the floor or coming up with surprising new recycling solutions, it's the 'out-of-the-box' ideas that drive me. Finding innovative ways to improve Amazon's operations gives me such a sense of accomplishment and motivates me to keep pushing for what's possible."

Keeping materials in use

We look for ways to keep materials in circulation and extend their life cycle through innovative applications. In the U.K., we’re exploring ways to remanufacture the durable polypropylene straps used to secure cargo into homeware products such as soap dishes, helping to avoid the need for new materials.

We're committed to continuously testing, learning, and refining our approach. Each pilot project teaches us something valuable, even when initial solutions don't work as expected. Take shrink wrap: while we haven't yet found a reusable solution that meets our rigorous standards across all applications, we're working with a vendor to redesign reusable wrap for our specific needs. Every attempt—successful or not—provides insights that inform our future efforts. 

Take a free tour to see these innovations in action.

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