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Amazon has eliminated single-use plastic at its Indian fulfillment centers

The company pledged to do so last year.

Chesnot via Getty Images

Last year, Amazon pledged to eliminate single-use plastics in its packaging across its fulfillment centers in India — now it’s made good on that promise. As Reuters reports, the company has replaced bubble wrap and air pillows with paper cushions, and has swapped traditional packaging tape for biodegradable alternatives.

Amazon said last September that it would phase out single-use plastic packaging by June this year, in a bid to help India tackle its ongoing problem with environmental pollution. The 1.3 billion-strong country does not have an organized system for managing plastic waste, leading to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling on citizens to eradicate the use of the material throughout India by 2022.

Amazon’s efforts will certainly help India achieve that goal, but the company itself has numerous environmental sins to atone for, having consistently been blasted by Greenpeace for its poor sustainability practices. In recent times, however, we’ve seen the company investing in clean energy, launching recycling initiatives and taking action on sellers that are overzealous with packaging. As its anti-plastic stance has proven successful in India, it probably won’t be too long before we see it replicated in the west, too.