A former employee of the ecommerce giant confirmed this information to the British media ITV News.
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June
22, 2021
3 min read
Amazon destroys and discards millions of returned or unsold products each year, according to research by ITV News . According to information collected by the British media, a former employee revealed that week after week they had to destroy 130 thousand items.
Among the items that Jeff Bezos’ company supposedly discards in the UK are smart televisions, laptops, drones, hair dryers, high-end headphones, computer units, books, among others that are placed in boxes marked with a the “destroy” tag.
According to the investigation, in which videos allegedly recorded inside the warehouses are shown, the products that are destroyed and discarded are those that were returned or not sold.
Exclusive: Amazon is destroying millions of items of unsold stock in one of its UK warehouses every year, an ITV News investigation has uncovered.
Many of the products – including smart TVs and laptops – are often new and unused. https://t.co/OJjexB0YQd #AmazonWaste pic.twitter.com/UR7XrLWvIM
– ITV News (@itvnews) June 21, 2021
The former worker who asked to remain anonymous explains that 50% of all items are unopened and still in their shrink wrap.
Why do they destroy the products?
According to the media, this happens because some of the supplier businesses decide to store their products in the firm’s warehouses and the longer they go without being sold, the more expensive the rent, so sometimes it is cheaper to get rid of them.
John Boumphrey, Amazon’s UK boss, told ITV News that the amount of products the company destroys is “extremely small.” Also, in response to the report, the company explained that they are working to reduce the amount of products they destroy since their priority is to resell, donate to charities or recycle.
The British government commented that they will investigate further what happens in Amazon warehouses and that the priority will be to find solutions that include the reuse and recycling of products.