"Amazon is to be investigated by Scotland’s environment watchdog over claims that millions of surplus goods from its flagship warehouse in Fife are destroyed each year.
Calls have been made for the online retailer to be stripped of public subsidies after it emerged that unsold items from its distribution centre in Dunfermline, including televisions and laptops, books and face masks, are sent to be processed at a landfill site.
Amazon said items were marked for recycling but admitted on Friday that some were incinerated to produce renewable energy.
The disclosure provoked anger from opposition politicians who accused Amazon, which reported record sales in the UK last year of £19.4 billion, of “vulgar decadence and obscene wastage”.
Ministers have asked the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to meet Amazon as a matter of urgency.
They are also exploring ways to outlaw wasteful practices under the forthcoming Circular Economy Bill.
This weekend Monica Lennon, the Labour MSP who sits on Holyrood’s net zero, energy and transport committee, indicated support for parliamentary scrutiny of Amazon, which was given more than £6 million by Scottish Enterprise to help establish its warehouse in the Fife town. The US company received £4.7million from the Scottish government last year for web services.
Mark Ruskell, the Scottish Green Party MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said: “Every penny of public investment needs to support a green recovery instead of undermining it.”
The backlash was prompted by an ITV investigation which revealed that unsold goods were labelled for destruction at Amazon’s Dunfermline site and taken to Lochhead landfill site, which operates an “energy from waste” plant.
The issue was raised in parliament with Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, who said the SNP was committed to a circular economy and that fair work conditions were attached to any grants from Scottish Enterprise, the commercial wing of the government.
Green campaigners point to countries such as France, where supermarkets are obliged by law to give unsold food to charities
“Clearly we urgently need a similar law here to stop this insane wastefulness,“ said Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland. “Many people have relied on Amazon through the lockdowns but nobody understood this incredible hidden price.”
Neale Hanvey, the Alba MP for Fife, said Amazon should donate any unsold goods to good causes. “When so many people are struggling to cope with the cumulative impacts of austerity, Brexit and the pandemic, Amazon’s actions are reminiscent of the vulgar decadence and indifference of Marie Antoinette,” he said.
Jeff Bezos, the company’s founder and chief executive, is the world’s richest man, with a fortune estimated at £140 billion. He has been accused of failing to protect employees. In March Unite, the trade union, opened a hotline for Amazon staff in Scotland to blow the whistle on poor treatment and working practices. “There is going to be a reckoning with Amazon,” Sharon Graham, the union’s national officer, said. “Their cuddly TV adverts are about how they love the world and what a joy it is to work there. The reality, as the facts of Dunfermline show, is they care little for the environment.”
Amazon said on Friday that it was committed to reducing waste and helping to build a circular economy but admitted there was more to be done. “We do not send any items to landfill in the UK and to suggest otherwise is untrue,” it said. “Our priority is to resell, donate or recycle any unsold products. As a last resort, we will send items to energy recovery, but we’re working hard to drive the number of times this happens down to zero.”" https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/amazon-faces-inquiry-into-disposal-of-unsold-goods-27lblc36h