Sustainable Finance Newsletter - Amazon wins green praise for brown-bag packaging

By Ross Kerber

Aug 13 (Reuters) - If you're an Amazon customer like me you may have noticed more of your orders arriving in paper envelopes rather than in the online retailer's iconic white plastic mailers.

The change reflects a bigger shift by the company, an Amazon executive told me recently, after environmentalists noticed a decline in its use of plastic mailing material.

You can read more about the topic in my column this week, below. I'm also including stories about big-time corporate interventions by U.S. President Donald Trump and slow progress for sustainable aviation fuel.

Please follow me on LinkedIn and/or Bluesky. Or get me via ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com.

Amazon wins green praise for brown-bag packaging

Environmentalists cheered when Amazon's AMZN.O recent sustainability report showed a 16% decline in the company's shipments with single-use plastic, to 74,137 metric tons last year. That's significant, especially as many companies adjust to new priorities from Trump.

But activists also were puzzled. Amazon has resisted shareholder resolutions asking for reports on the topic, so why would it bring down the metric so much?

Pat Lindner, Amazon's VP of mechatronics - yes it's a real word - and sustainable packaging, says the main answer is simple: customers find paper easier to recycle.

"That's what's been driving use of plastics to use of paper-based packaging, because while plastic can be technically recycled, it's often an inconvenience" requiring a trip to a drop-off facility, Lindner told me in a recent interview.

You can read more by clicking here.

COMPANY NEWS

Trump's unprecedented deals with Nvidia NVDA.O and AMD AMD.O to give the U.S. government a cut of some advanced chip sales to China create new uncertainties for corporate decision-making and could be seen as an export tax, according to some U.S. lawmakers and academics.

Meanwhile, Trump praised Intel INTC.O CEO Lip-Bu Tan, days after seeking his resignation over his ties to Chinese firms. The criticism sparked concern over presidential meddling in corporate affairs. The chipmaker said it would work closely with the administration to "restore this great American company."

Eli Lilly's LLY.N experimental GLP-1 pill helped patients lose 12.4% of body weight in a late-stage study, but the figure lagged trial results for a rival treatment from Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO.

ON MY RADAR

An investigation by my colleagues found airlines' plans to shift to sustainable aviation fuel are little more than a pipe dream, with only 36 projects materializing so far out of 165 projects announced over the last dozen years.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in April ruled that BlackRock BLK.N could hang on to its big utility stakes. FERC on Aug. 6 reaffirmed its decision and said that environmental groups like Climate Action 100+ should not be considered "holding companies," a view that could bolster asset managers' defenses in litigation in Texas.

Israel's news media was starting to explore the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but coverage wound down after militant group Hamas released videos of two emaciated Israeli hostages.