Amazon will launch a new program to let its third-party sellers in the U.S. and U.K. donate unsold items rather than throw them away.
Amazon announced the new Fulfillment by Amazon Donations program, first reported by CNBC, will launch in September. Amazon is teaming up with Good360 in the U.S. and Newlife, Salvation Army, and Barnardo’s in the U.K. to distribute unsold items to a network of nonprofits.
“We know getting products into the hands of those who need them transforms lives and strengthens local communities,” Alice Shobe, director of Amazon in the Community said in a statement. “We are delighted to extend this program to sellers who use our fulfillment services.”
The program aims to reduce the amount of inventory that must be dumped from Amazon’s warehouses, giving unsold products a new life while also being more environmentally friendly. Recent reports illustrate how Amazon regularly discards excess inventory, filling up landfills with brand new products, and the new program aims to rectify those issues.
Amazon has been public about its desire to become more sustainable, and re-routing items that might otherwise end up in a landfill will help with that. Earlier this year, the tech giant pledged to get half its package deliveries to a standard of net zero carbon by 2030.
