A new law is intended to prevent mail-order companies from destroying returned goods. But at Amazon in Lower Saxony, new goods continue to end up in the trash.
Winsen – According to the environmental organization Greenpeace, the online giant Amazon continues to destroy new goods. At the Winsen site in Lower Saxony, original packaged products are sorted for destruction at eight workstations designated as “destroy stations,” Greenpeace reported.
According to Greenpeace, film footage shows that the mail-order company disposes of “at least one truckload of unsold goods every week at one location alone, from T-shirts to books to brand-new electrical goods.” It is a systematic destruction of usable goods, he said. The department is “apparently firmly integrated into the production process of the Winsen center,” according to a statement by the ARD magazine Panorama, which also investigated Amazon. The US corporation rejects the accusations.
Amazon disposes of new goods: According to Greenpeace research, at least one truck per week
The investigator of the environmental protection organization Greenpeace had worked several weeks as an employee in the Amazon logistics center in Winsen in Lower Saxony and secretly made the recordings, it is said further. In the run-up, Greenpeace had received indications that Amazon was planning to circumvent legal regulations. The ARD magazine Panorama and the weekly newspaper Die Zeit have confirmed the Greenpeace research with their own sources. The video recordings from the warehouse in Lower Saxony are available to the journalists.
According to research by Panorama and Zeit, goods from third-party retailers that have not been sold within a certain period of time are then primarily destroyed in Lower Saxony. The online retailer then offers the companies the disposal of the goods stored in the logistics center, Christian Pietsch confirmed to journalists, whose company sells leather goods via Amazon. If goods were not sold for too long, high long-term storage fees would be incurred. This is confirmed by a list that states, “The long-term storage fee is not charged if removal or disposal of the units was requested before the fee was charged.” In addition, Amazon also charges a fee for the disposal of the goods, which is set in this price list.
Amazon in Lower Saxony: already in 2019 Greenpeace documented that new goods end up in the trash
Greenpeace had already documented at the end of 2019 which new goods are regularly thrown away in the Amazon logistics center in Lower Saxony. The environmental protection organization therefore particularly criticized, the destruction of the goods happens, although a law against this form of waste of resources had come into force last year. The so-called duty of care is intended to prevent intact goods from being destroyed and, according to the text of the law, stipulates that “when distributing the products, also in connection with their return or return, it must be ensured that the fitness for use of the products is maintained and that they do not become waste.”
But so far, the duty of care has neither been implemented nor monitored by the authorities. Amazon is taking advantage of the lack of a legal ordinance on the duty of care, which is why no penalties are being imposed. Before specific ordinances can come into force, he said, it is necessary to know how many goods are destroyed in the first place. “Because only with this data can we avoid loopholes and ensure that no one can evade the new rules. The obligation for companies to be transparent is therefore the next logical step,” a spokesperson for the German Environment Ministry told Panorama and Die Zeit.
Greenpeace uncovers destruction of recyclable goods: Amazon rejects accusations
Amazon rejects the extent of the accusations, but does not deny that goods were destroyed in Lower Saxony. When asked, an Amazon spokesman said the company was complying with its duties of care with regard to the goods it distributed. “We have implemented measures to avoid the destruction of goods as much as possible,” he said. Amazon is working to “avoid dumping products at all, if possible,” he added. Amazon stressed that the disposal involved very few products, saying the number was “in the per mille range.”
22.05.202120:30
Greenpeace activists already protested in Winsen in 2019 against the throwaway culture at Amazon. Now research reveals that nothing has changed despite new laws.
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Greenpeace activists already protested in Winsen in 2019 against the throwaway culture at Amazon. Now research reveals that nothing has changed despite new laws. © Georg Wendt/dpa
A new law aims to prevent returned goods from being destroyed at mail-order companies. But at Amazon in Lower Saxony, new goods continue to end up in the trash.
Winsen – The online giant Amazon continues to destroy new goods, according to the environmental protection organization Greenpeace. At the Winsen site in Lower Saxony, original packaged products are sorted for destruction at eight workstations designated as “destroy stations,” Greenpeace reported.
According to Greenpeace, film footage shows that the mail-order company disposes of “at least one truckload of unsold goods every week at one location alone, from T-shirts to books to brand-new electrical goods.” It is a systematic destruction of usable goods, he said. The department is “apparently firmly integrated into the production process of the Winsen center,” according to a statement by the ARD magazine Panorama, which also investigated Amazon. The US corporation rejects the accusations.
Amazon disposes of new goods: According to Greenpeace research, at least one truck per week
The investigator of the environmental protection organization Greenpeace had worked several weeks as an employee in the Amazon logistics center in Winsen in Lower Saxony and secretly made the recordings, it is said further. In the run-up, Greenpeace had received indications that Amazon was planning to circumvent legal regulations. The ARD magazine Panorama and the weekly newspaper Die Zeit have confirmed the Greenpeace research with their own sources. The video recordings from the warehouse in Lower Saxony are available to the journalists.
According to research by Panorama and Zeit, goods from third-party retailers that have not been sold within a certain period of time are then primarily destroyed in Lower Saxony. The online retailer then offers the companies the disposal of the goods stored in the logistics center, Christian Pietsch confirmed to the journalists, whose company sells leather goods via Amazon. If goods were not sold for too long, high long-term storage fees would be incurred. This is confirmed by a list that states, “The long-term storage fee is not charged if removal or disposal of the units was requested before the fee was charged.” In addition, Amazon also charges a fee for the disposal of the goods, which is set in this price list.
Amazon in Lower Saxony: already in 2019 Greenpeace documented that new goods end up in the trash
Greenpeace had already documented at the end of 2019 which new goods are regularly thrown away in the Amazon logistics center in Lower Saxony. The environmental protection organization therefore particularly criticized, the destruction of the goods happens, although a law against this form of waste of resources had come into force last year. The so-called duty of care is intended to prevent intact goods from being destroyed and, according to the text of the law, stipulates that “when distributing the products, also in connection with their return or return, it must be ensured that the fitness for use of the products is maintained and that they do not become waste.”
But so far, the duty of care has neither been implemented nor monitored by the authorities. Amazon is taking advantage of the lack of a legal ordinance on the duty of care, which is why no penalties are being imposed. Before specific ordinances can come into force, he said, it is necessary to know how many goods are destroyed in the first place. “Because only with this data can we avoid loopholes and ensure that no one can evade the new rules. So the obligation for companies to be transparent is the next logical step,” a spokesman for the German Environment Ministry told Panorama and Die Zeit.
Greenpeace exposes destruction of recyclable goods: Amazon rejects accusations
Amazon rejects the extent of the accusations, but does not deny that goods would be destroyed in Lower Saxony. An Amazon spokesman explained when asked,
