Echo, Kindle, and Fire TV product packaging gets an all-new look using more recycled fiber and less ink. Finding the best way to package our devices is so important to us. After all the time and effort our team invests in designing and building world-class products, we want to make sure they get to you safe and sound.
It’s the first thing you interact with when your product arrives, so we pay close attention to getting that unboxing experience just right. Last but not least, we know that it is important to you what happens with the packaging when you are done with it, so we want to make sure that our packaging is easy to recycle—we obsess over every single material we use. Earlier this year, we revealed that our new Kindle lineup would be using a new packaging design, and today, I’m thrilled to tell you more about it.
Obsessing over the details
Over the past few years, we’ve made a number of changes to make our device packaging even more recyclable—in fact, last year, 90% of the devices we launched in the U.S. were boxed in 100% recyclable device packaging. One of the key changes we made was removing the plastic bags in and outside the box. Originally, we used outer plastic wraps and laminations to properly protect the box from damage when it was shipped, which we’ve replaced with water-based coating that keeps that box safe and undamaged. Inside the box, we’re using paper-based wraps that protect the device and are compatible with paper recycling streams.
We’ve also improved how we ship devices to our Amazon warehouses because decarbonizing our transportation network is a key part of meeting The Climate Pledge by 2040. For example, we’ve continued to find ways to make our device boxing more compact when possible, which lets us increase how many products go on a pallet. Plus, we’ve focused on using more non-air modes of transportation when we ship products from final assembly to our warehouses. This is key because our science models show that ocean shipping emissions are, on average, 95% lower than air transport emissions.
An all-new design that uses more recycled fibers and less ink
Now, we’ve redesigned our device packaging for Echo, Kindle, and Fire TV products to improve the circularity of our packaging. Our new packaging introduces, on average, 30% more recycled fiber content, reducing the reliance on virgin tree-based and bleached fibers. That means that we’re using more fiber content that’s already been recycled by customers and is in circulation.
Across our device product lines, we average 98% wood fiber-based materials in our packaging. Our new packaging also uses 60% less ink, and the design looks more like the brown kraft box design that Amazon customers are already familiar with because we aren’t bleaching our boxes. Bleaching uses chemicals that can be harmful to the environment, and the process of bleaching can be carbon intensive. The brown kraft design also allows us to increase the amount of post-consumer recycled materials we’re using—more than double the amount we were using before.
Providing more accessible product information
We’ve used QR codes before to help us use less paper in the box—customers scan the code to get more detailed setup instructions. Now, we’re taking it a step further with a new tactile-marked QR code that we’re starting to use on the Quick Start Guides in our boxes. That’s critical so that customers who are blind or have low vision can easily find the code by touch and scan it to access a digital quick-start guide, which details product info, setup instructions, and troubleshooting tips. A customer can also learn more about the device’s accessibility features. You’ll start to see it in select Amazon device packages, and we’ll bring it to more of our packaging over time.
Eliminating waste in our deliveries
More broadly, for the packaging we use for our deliveries at Amazon, we’ve continued to find ways to use less packaging and prioritize easier to recycle materials. Since 2015, Amazon has reduced the average per-shipment packaging weight by 43% and avoided more than 3 million metric tons of packaging, including nearly half a million metric tons in 2023 alone. This year, we removed plastic air pillows used in our delivery packaging at our global fulfillment centers—avoiding nearly 15 billion plastic air pillows annually.
Check out our latest Kindle, Echo Show, and Fire TV devices
Our latest Kindle, Echo Show, and Fire TV devices are packaged in this new design. You’ll see us use the new device packaging for future Echo, Kindle, and Fire TV products around the world. We can’t wait to hear what our customers think of the new design.
