Amazon faces congressional scrutiny after destroying laptops, tablets, and books

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Amazon After a secret investigation revealed that thousands of unsold products (and in some cases still in packaging) including laptops, TVs, headphones, and books were destroyed by the company, the company is facing a new politics Review.

The uproar caused by ITV news reports led three Labour MPs, including the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Digital Skills and Data Poverty, to request a meeting with the British country manager John Boumphrey. Amazon.

They stated that the destruction of unwanted laptops and tablets has caused incredible damage to the environment, but it also “missed an opportunity to help millions of people in the UK who do not have devices connected to the Internet.” This letter was written by Julie Ai Little, Theoben Macdonald and Darren Jones.

The letter added: “Seeing these devices being disposed of at will has caused huge losses to different charities and organizations. These institutions and organizations can do a lot of work to reuse them and distribute them to those who need them. It’s unbelievable.”

MacDonald said this was a “wasteful” photo.

“You have this combination: they throw away the perfect good things that people desperately need, and treat their employees as badly as they do. They seem almost like a nation-state. They are impervious.”

Secret shot Independent television news In an area of ​​Amazon’s Dunfermline warehouse called the “Destroy Area”, items from computer equipment to hair dryers, power tools, books and even sealed masks are displayed. These items are sorted into boxes labeled “Destroyed” .

The Amazon fulfillment center in Dunfermline, Fife. Photo: ITV News/PA

These trash cans are then loaded onto trucks, electronics are transported to waste management sites, and the remaining items are transported to recycling centers. A former employee told ITV that the goal of warehouse workers was to destroy 130,000 items per week.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised that the government will investigate the company’s actions. On Tuesday, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) issued a statement stating that it must end the “disposable culture and recycle more of our products.” “Waste” in the UK.

“It is essential that more commodities are reused or recycled, rather than landfilled or incinerated,” a spokesperson for Defra said. “Every item thrown away is a waste of precious and limited resources, which is why we are committed to creating a more circular economy for our waste and resources.”

Defra is currently reviewing regulations on waste electrical equipment to promote reuse and recycling, and to ensure that manufacturers and retailers, including online markets, take greater responsibility.

Amazon said it did not send any items to landfills in the UK. “Our priority is to resell, donate or recycle any unsold products. As a last resort, we will send items to energy recovery centers, but we are working hard to reduce the number of such cases to zero.”

Energy recovery is the term used to convert waste into heat, electricity or fuel, for example by incineration.

Analysts believe that the goods may be destroyed in this way because it is cheaper to dispose of them than to continue to store stocks.

Similar investigation France with Germany Evidence of this practice was found in other Amazon warehouses. The GMB union, which is concerned about the safety of its warehouse workers, said the online retailer is a “greedy, profit-oriented company that always puts profits on the planet”.

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“Consumers should really pay attention to Amazon’s impact,” said Mick Rix, GMB country official. “They don’t give monkeys. They really don’t.”

Sam Chetan-Welsh, a political adviser to Greenpeace in the United Kingdom, said the ITV report showed a lot of unnecessary waste.

He said: “Expensive products that require energy and resources to make are directly passed from the production line into our over-expanded waste system, and the high taxes required to process these products are not paid by Amazon.

“Other countries have laws to prevent this shocking waste, and our government needs to introduce similar legislation immediately.”

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