How Amazon meets sustainability goals

Amazon’s new 2022 Sustainability Report shows progress in several key areas.

The e-tail giant has released its annual Sustainability Report, marking progress across social, community, and environmental goals. Amazon is also tracking its movement toward fulfilling its Climate Pledge, an initiative to be net zero carbon across its entire business by 2040.

Following are highlights of Amazon’s sustainability efforts in 2022:

Renewable energy

Amazon is on track to power its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of schedule. In 2022, 90% of electricity consumed by Amazon was supplied by renewable energy sources.

Electric and sustainable delivery

In 2022, Amazon had more than 9,000 electric delivery vehicles (EVs) in its global fleet, and 145 million packages were delivered by EVs in the U.S. and Europe. The company’s goal is to get 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian on the road by 2030.

Sustainable packaging

In 2022, Amazon decreased single-use plastic by 11.6% across its global operations by expanding paper-based packaging and continuing to use lighter and more flexible packaging. Where possible, the company also eliminates packaging altogether. In 2022, 11% of all Amazon packages shipped globally were delivered without added Amazon delivery packaging.

Supply chain emissions

Amazon is working to reduce its carbon footprint across the entire business, including its global supply chain. To effectively decrease its carbon footprint, the retailer is collaborating with its supply chain partners to help them decarbonize their own operations. Beginning in 2024, Amazon is updating its supply chain standards to require suppliers to share their carbon emissions data with us and set carbon goals. 

Data center emissions

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is designing data centers, including servers and hardware, for efficiency, resiliency, and a lower carbon footprint.

“We know that sustainability is important to our customers, and we’re continuously investing, inventing, and improving to make every interaction more sustainable than the last,” Kara Hurst, VP and head of worldwide sustainability at Amazon, said in a corporate blog post. “We do this while working to minimize our impact on the planet and the communities we operate in.”