Amazon finally eliminates plastic air pillows, but environmental advocates say it’s not enough.

After years of pressure from environmental advocates, the global retail giant Amazon announced last week that it had removed plastic air pillows from its global network of “fulfillment centers,” as Amazon calls its warehouses and distribution facilities. Products packaged within the company’s packaging now use paper cushioning that can be collected in recycling programs on the curbside.

Amazon wrote in a blog post: “We are committed to improving how orders are shipped, for the benefit of customers and the planet.”

This announcement represents the fulfillment of a promise Amazon made in June of last year to “completely remove” plastic air pillows from North America by the end of the year. At that time, the company had already replaced 95% of its air pillows across the continent with paper cushioning. Years earlier, in 2021, Amazon removed plastic air pillows in Australia, and in 2022 did the same for orders shipped from its European warehouses.

The non-profit group Oceana, dedicated to ocean conservation, has been pursuing Amazon for several years due to its use of plastic materials, largely through a series of reports that quantify the company’s total plastic footprint and its contribution to marine plastic pollution. According to Matt Littlejohn, Oceana’s Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Amazon’s announcement is “very important indeed,” although the phased elimination does not apply to orders shipped by third-party sellers. Amazon has not disclosed the percentage of its sales achieved in this manner. Littlejohn stated, “It’s fantastic news for the oceans and the world in general that the largest e-commerce company in the world is taking this action.”

However, Amazon continues to use tens of thousands of tons of plastic each year in other forms of packaging – much of it in thin plastic used in delivery bags and padded envelopes. The recycling process for plastic films is not only practically impossible but is also the most common form of plastic waste in coastal waters and poses the greatest threat to large marine animals. Oceana and other environmental groups say the company must strengthen its commitments to reducing plastic use by setting deadlines to phase out all single-use plastic packaging and expanding reusable alternatives.

Littlejohn told Grist: “We want the company to step up its efforts.” He said that Amazon’s actions could influence other major retailers to reduce their use of plastic materials as well.

Amazon is one of the largest companies in the world, valued at around $2 trillion with annual revenues exceeding $600 billion. It operates in 21 countries and ships to more countries. In the United States, Amazon controls nearly 40% of the e-commerce market.

So far, the biggest progress Amazon has made in reducing plastic use has been in international jurisdictions, perhaps due to stronger regulations on single-use plastics. The company’s warehouses in India have been plastic packaging-free since 2020, and its European distribution centers stopped using plastic delivery bags in 2022. These changes contributed to a 9% reduction in global plastic use between 2022 and 2023, according to a recent report. Amazon spokesperson.

Plastic reduction has been slower in the United States, perhaps due to the enormous size of its largest markets. Oceana estimated that Amazon generated 208 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in the US in 2022 – about 10% more than the previous year – despite the company’s latest efforts to transition to paper. In its recent blog post, Amazon stated that it had now modified more than 120 automated packing machines across the country to produce paper bags instead of plastic bags.

Amazon also hinted in its 2022 sustainability report that it was “gradually phasing out lined bags containing plastic materials,” apparently referring to the ubiquitous blue-and-white mailers. Littlejohn said Amazon needs to make this commitment more specific by clarifying its geographical scope and timeline for completion.

The company also stated in its latest sustainability report that it is “working to reduce our use of single-use plastic packaging in favor of recyclable household alternatives.” Littlejohn said that focusing on recycling – rather than specialized recovery programs in retail stores – is beneficial. Currently, Amazon’s blue-and-white mailers feature a sticker directing customers to recycle bins “for the stragglers” at locations like Kohl’s, Safeway, and Stop & Shop. However, investigations by the media and environmental groups have shown that the plastic collected in these bins often ends up in landfills and incinerators, rather than recycling facilities. The plastic film recovered is turned into non-recyclable products like deck chairs.

In response to Grist’s request for comment, an Amazon spokesperson referred to previously announced plastic reduction efforts, including the complete removal of plastic packaging from two distribution facilities in the United States.

The spokesperson wrote in an email: “We recognize the importance of reducing single-use plastic, in the United States and globally, but this cannot be done overnight.” They went on to say that Amazon is “obsessed with getting this right for customers, and we are extremely proud of the progress made so far.”

Amazon also stated in a blog post last week that its top priority is to “completely eliminate packaging,” meaning it is attempting to ship products in their original packaging rather than adding sleeves, bags, boxes, and fillers bearing the Amazon brand. As of December of last year, Amazon was shipping one-third of its sales in North America without any additional packaging, and stated that it would increase this portion to two-thirds by December 2024.

As You Sow is a non-profit organization advocating for shareholders that has filed multiple resolutions at Amazon requesting the disclosure and reduction of plastic packaging impacts. Conrad MacKerron, the organization’s Senior Vice President, pointed out that there are still plenty of opportunities outside of Amazon’s e-commerce operations to reduce unnecessary plastic packaging. For example, he said Amazon sells many private-label food and beverage products packaged in flexible plastics, such as nut bags and candy. These products contribute to plastic pollution, even if they are shipped to buyers in paper envelopes.

Amazon also owns Whole Foods, one of the largest grocery chains in the United States, where entire aisles of products are sold in flimsy plastic packaging that is nearly impossible to recycle. Many of these products are sold under the Amazon-owned 365 brand at Whole Foods Market. “Unlike PET bottles, these flexible containers cannot be recycled anywhere in the world at this stage. MacKerron said: “It all goes to the landfill.” He said he would like to see Amazon “reassess” its use of plastic in grocery stores, “as there is nothing on the horizon that would provide a recycling option” for them.

This article originally appeared on Grist. Grist is an independent non-profit media organization dedicated to storytelling about climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org.