Amazon Investing Millions in Automated Robotic Packaging Machines
Amazon is set to deploy advanced automated packaging technology across its European network – including in the UK – to improve packaging for its customers and reduce waste.
Through what is billed as the company’s largest European investment in sustainable packaging, Amazon said it would bring custom-box making technology to Europe for the first time so that more customers receive items in made-to-fit packaging.
The online retail giant said it intended to install hundreds of automated packaging machines across a number of its European fulfilment centers that would reduce packaging volumes for millions of customer deliveries.
More than 70 of these machines will be installed in Germany, UK, France, Italy, and Spain by the end of this year, with more to follow by 2027.
Amazon said that 18 will be installed in the UK by the end of 2025, at fulfillment centers including Durham, Sutton Coldfield, and Tilbury.
Made-to-fit packaging can reduce delivery emissions by minimizing material use, eliminating waste, and maximizing vehicle space, enabling more deliveries with fewer vehicles.
Pat Lindner, VP mechatronics and sustainable packaging at Amazon, said: “In order to reduce waste, we need to reduce packaging. We use machine learning and automation to create packaging that’s made to fit, reducing excess materials while making sure the product remains protected.
“We’re now installing automated packaging machines in our facilities across Europe to better serve our customers and the planet. This investment is a significant step forward in reducing the environmental impact of deliveries for our European customers.”
With the new kit, employees place an item into the machine, which uses sensors to measure its dimensions and automatically produce a box that is made to fit.
The machine applies shipping labels directly, making each package ready for immediate dispatch to customers. It will be used to pack heavier, or more fragile items that need more protection than a padded envelope provides.
Amazon also said its packaging engineers had reimagined a machine originally used to create plastic bags and retrofitted it to cut made-to-fit paper bags.
Sensors measure an order’s dimensions, and then the machine creates a correctly sized protective bag using a durable, weather-resistant paper and heat-sealing technology.
By packing items in recyclable, light paper packaging, without the need for padding, Amazon said the machines would help to avoid more than 26 grams of packaging per shipment, on average.
Amazon said it had reduced the average per-shipment packaging weight by 43% since 2015, representing more than three million metric tonnes of packaging avoided.
As part of the initiative, Amazon is planning to expand the use of zero-emission transportation and pledged to have 100,000 electric delivery vans on the road by the end of the decade. However, reports have raised concerns about Amazon's carbon footprint.
In 2023, Business Insider reported that Amazon was developing $87 billion worth of data centers, which are harmful to the environment. In fact, research revealed that the global data center industry will produce about 2.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions through 2030.
Amazon has also faced criticism over its environmental practices. Earlier this year, the online retailer was hit with a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of greenwashing. The suit claimed that the company's paper products contribute to deforestation despite being marketed as eco-friendly.
According to Amazon, boosting sustainability is a priority for the company. The new automated packaging machines in Europe are a part of that mission.
"This investment is a significant step forward in reducing the environmental impact of deliveries for our European customers," Pat Lindner, vice president of mechatronics and sustainable packaging at Amazon, said.
