Amazon touches the lives of millions of customers, employees, and partners around the world, and we are well aware of the responsibilities that come with this position. Taking a responsible approach for us also means working with other entities, both public and private, to adopt simplified and streamlined policies in the area of sustainability, while supporting small businesses with limited resources.
With this in mind, Amazon in Italy has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) and the industry associations Erp Italia, Erion Weee, and Erion Energy to support proper recovery and recycling of electrical and electronic goods and batteries - a product category that includes household appliances, IT and lighting items - to reduce the risk of pollution due to incorrect end-of-life product management.
The agreement, which operates in full compliance with the implementation programme of the National Strategy for the Circular Economy (SEC), proposes a simplified model that helps Amazon Italy’s third-party sellers fulfill their obligations under national regulations on the environmental levy due, and also facilitates reporting data on products released for consumption, increasing transparency in the supply chain.
Our participation in this agreement fits within our broader commitment to sustainability, embodied in The Climate Pledge, through which we have committed to be net-zero carbon by 2040, ten years ahead of the Paris Agreement.
We are pleased with the positive results reached by this pilot project and hope it will be a source of inspiration for other future regulatory initiatives in the field of waste management and the circular economy. Indeed, we believe that harmonisation of sustainability legislation in all Member States, regarding the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), is also crucial for the development of the European Single Market. The urgency of the green transition has caused Member States to move ahead at different speeds and in different directions. This has created differing compliance requirements, especially for SMEs seeking to operate across borders, and we would welcome a European strategy aimed at the creation of a Single Market to improve effectiveness of waste and recycling across Europe.
