Amazon will invest $10 million in Closed Loop Fund to support recycling infrastructure in the US, including increasing the availability of curbside recycling for 3 million homes in communities across the country. The online retail giant says that by making it easier for customers to recycle and by further developing end markets for recycled commodities, the investment will divert 1 million tons of recyclable material from landfill into the recycling stream and eliminate the equivalent of 2 million metric tons of CO2 by 2028.
Closed Loop Fund is a project that invests in scaling recycling infrastructure and sustainable manufacturing technologies. It aims to eliminate more than 16 million tons of greenhouse gas, divert more than 8 million cumulative tons of waste from landfills, improve recycling for more than 18 million households, and save nearly $60 million for American cities over the next 10 years.
Amazon says its investment in Closed Loop Fund furthers its commitment to reducing packaging waste. Other waste reduction commitments include the company's Frustration-Free Packaging programs, which are designed to produce less waste than traditional packaging. Amazon works directly with thousands of manufacturers to help them redesign their packaging and eliminate waste throughout the supply chain. Amazon introduced Frustration-Free Packaging 10 years ago, and it has eliminated more than 244,000 tons of packaging materials to date, avoiding 500 million shipping boxes, the company says. (Read more about Amazon's packaging initiatives here.)
Recently Amazon joined the Recycling Partnership, an American nonprofit that uses corporate investments to transform recycling nationwide. By the end of this year the organization aims to help companies and cities invest more than $33 million in recycling infrastructure.
