An explosive undercover video investigation of ITV news found that Amazon destroys millions of good, unsold products every year, including brand new laptops, smart TVs, phones, premium headphones, fitness trackers, and more.
The news agency revealed footage from an Amazon warehouse in the Scottish city of Dunfermline where countless valuable products are marked for destruction before being taken in giant trucks to landfills and recycling centers.
A former Amazon employee said ITV news that the goal of the center was to destroy a staggering 130,000 items every week!
Exclusive: Amazon destroys millions of unsold inventory in one of its UK warehouses every year, an investigation by ITV News found.
Many of the products – including smart TVs and laptops – are often new and unused. #AmazonWaste https://t.co/OJjexAJnrD pic.twitter.com/SnJnCMZFLN
– ITV news (@itvnews) June 21, 2021
“I used to have to gasp for air. There’s no rhyme or reason for what’s being destroyed: Dyson fans, hoovers, the occasional MacBook and iPad; recently 20,000 Covid (face) masks still in their covers, “said the former Amazon employee in an interview with ITV news.
The sheer scale of Amazon’s alleged waste has shocked environmentalists and social media users who saw the video. Even more worrying, this is just one of the 175 shipping centers that Amazon operates worldwide.
Since the footage was shared, another whistleblower from an Amazon warehouse in Hertfordshire, England, said that “a lot of things from brand new iPhones to PlayStations” have been destroyed by the company.
According to ITV, Amazon’s country manager for the UK said the number of items destroyed was “very low”.
Amazon also published the following statement on Tuesday.
As a last resort, we’ll be sending energy recovery items, but we’re working hard to reduce the number of incidents to zero
Unsold inventory often becomes uneconomical as manufacturers find it more expensive to recall the goods than to keep them in warehouses. ITV reported. However, Amazon may be better off donating these usable products than completely disposing of them.
Following the investigation, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to look into the allegations, which he believed were “unbelievable”.
