Amazon is once again under fire for destroying millions of products. British broadcaster ITV secretly filmed at an Amazon Scottish distribution centre and was told that hundreds of thousands of items go to landfill there every week alone.
Across the UK, Amazon allegedly destroys millions of (often new) products every year. UK broadcaster ITV relies on secret research at a distribution centre in Dunfermline, with former employees of the DC stating that hundreds of thousands of televisions, laptops and headphones were thrown away. ITV also got hold of an internal list that lists 124,000 products under the heading 'destroy'. This list only covers the month of April. During that period, only 28,000 products were donated. The channel's camera recorded trucks driving to landfills and recycling centres.
Amazon denies taking products to landfill. The online giant says it resells, recycles or donates as much stuff as possible.
Rel in France
In France, a similar undercover report led to a major uproar in 2019. French television channel M6 went undercover at Amazon's relatively small distribution centre in the town of Saran. Here, Amazon handles the fulfilment of orders from external partners, who use the Fulfillment at Amazon (FBA) service.
From these partners, 293,000 products were allegedly destroyed in a few months. Again, the programme makers based these allegations on interviews with former employees and official destruction figures.
The broadcast evoked great outrage, including in French politics, with Amazon stating in a response that French legislation was partly to blame for the destruction figures. This is because sellers have to pay VAT on donations, making it more financially attractive for them to destroy the products.
Image: Mike Mareen / Shutterstock.com
