Where do the Amazon products I return end up?
Throw away unused. New products that are not sold and end up in the landfill. The British network ITV News has released an investigation that shows that  Millions of Amazon items are destroyed each year, whether its unsold stock or customer returns: electrical appliances, jewelry, books  Most in good condition and brand new. It is not an exceptional practice, and in the fashion sector it has been doing for some time. To the point that the Spanish Government is preparing a Law on Waste and Contaminated Soils, with which it is intended to promote the circular economy model to reduce polluting emissions. The law, which is not yet in force, includes the prohibition to destroy unsold surpluses of non-perishable products, such as textiles, toys and electrical appliances, among others, unless they must be destroyed in accordance with other regulations.  This is not the first time Amazon has received criticism for disposing of undamaged products. In 2019 it was a French documentary that denounced this practice and created a stir, which forced the company to introduce some changes in its stock reduction policy. After the release of the complaint from the British chain Amazon published a statement on its blog on the 22nd in which it explained the process that follows returns from dissatisfied customers. If the returned item meets high quality standards, it is labeled new and resold. In the event that this is not the case, there are three destinations. On the one hand, some are marketed as reconditioned objects in Amazon Warehouse, others are donated to charities (Red Cross, Food Banks) and, only as a last resort  they say from the online sales company  are destroyed. In Amazon they encrypt 1% of the total returned objects that end up in the incinerator. Electronic trash    In the case of products from external sellers (more than half of those sold on Amazon), it is those sellers who decide what to do with the product that has been rejected by the customer. The digital store offers a service called Fullfilment by Amazon for these sales partners to choose sustainable disposal options rather than disposal, such as resale or donations.  Among the enormous variety of products that Amazon sells and many other physical and online companies are technological ones. And, with this, a new problem has been generated: electronic waste. The third Global E-Waste Monitor 2020 report, prepared in collaboration with the UN, estimates that  in Spain up to 19 kilos of electronic waste were generated in 2019 (waste of electronic electrical equipment, called WEEE) per inhabitant, half a kilo more than in 2015. One fact: every year 20 million telephones are thrown away. Globally, the projections for 2050 is that electronic waste will reach 75 million tons of waste, almost double the amount generated worldwide in 2019 (53 million tons). Electronic waste (telephones, refrigerators, computers ) has become a serious threat to the environment, since, over time, toxic elements with which these devices have been manufactured, such as mercury or lead. That is why WEEE cannot be thrown into the normal garbage, but must be deposited in a clean point or delivered to the establishment where a new one is purchased, since they have the obligation to collect electronic waste to treat it in the proper way. adequate. The recommendations go first to use these products to the maximum  (by donating or selling them second hand when that person no longer wants it) and, when they can no longer be used, recycle them, since metals such as aluminum or copper and even precious metals such as gold, palladium or silver can be extracted. Two robots    The problem that arises is that it is expensive to disassemble electronic waste for reuse, so it is usually sent to developing countries, where labor is cheaper,  which has an environmental cost because more greenhouse gases are generated in this transport. Not to mention the precarious working conditions of employees in these areas. Some companies choose to invest in this recycling of their products, such as Apple, which has committed to reaching emission neutrality by 2030, which means that every device that the company sells will have a zero climate impact. It is not an easy task, since to reach that goal it is necessary to reduce current emissions by 75%. However, there is a path taken and in the last eleven years the company has already reduced the average energy required for its products by 73%. The projects with which it seeks to achieve this include two robots to disassemble their devices and reuse the components. One is Daisy (which has been in operation for some time), it has dimensions of about 20 meters and disassembles about 200 iPhones every hour to later extract the minerals and give them a new use. The other robot is Dave and he disassembles the iPhones Taptic Engine (the one that creates the vibration when the phone screen is touched) to extract the chemicals called rare earths and tungsten, as well as to allow the steel to be recycled. To promote recycling, the company has established the Apple Trade In program, a kind of renewal plan by which the price of a new product is reduced by delivering an old one, so that the old device goes to the recycling program. Apple has also created an Energy Efficiency Program for suppliers whereby they commit to using 100% renewable energy.