Amazon has introduced a new recyclable paper envelope to its UK customers as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce packaging waste.
The online giant’s new design, created in collaboration with packaging experts Mondi, features a lightweight, shock-proof lining made entirely from paper, eliminating the need for plastic bubble wrap.
This innovation allows the envelopes to be recycled at home, offering an eco-friendly alternative to traditional packaging.
Amazon said the new envelope, which has already started arriving on doorsteps, is designed to protect deliveries without sacrificing safety or functionality.
The lightweight packaging reduces the average shipment weight by 44g compared to equivalent-sized cardboard boxes and optimises space, eliminating the need for additional protective materials like paper dunnage.
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The online giant said customers want rightsized, recyclable packaging that minimises waste and ensures damage-free delivery.
“When this is not an option, we optimise the type, material, and weight of our packaging to increase circularity, avoid waste, and reduce carbon emissions — without sacrificing safety or functionality,” it said.
It called its latest design “simple and effective, and designed to keep products securely in place, while at the same time absorbing stress put on the package during its journey to customers’ homes”.
Amazon European head of sustainable packaging Thais Blumer said: “Amazon stopped using traditional bubble-wrap padded envelopes in Europe several years ago, which presented a challenge to develop light, flexible and fully recyclable paper packaging that provides the same protection.
“Achieving both low weight and maximum protection with a 100% recyclable paper envelope was not an easy task, but these envelopes are easy to pack, simple for customers to recycle at home, and enable damage-free deliveries.”
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