AI and Supply Chain Decouple Amazon Growth From Emissions

Amazon published its 2025 sustainability report, documenting operational changes from the past year. The report details how the company has adapted its infrastructure to support business growth while implementing new technologies across its facilities.

For the third consecutive year, Amazon matched all electricity used in its global operations with renewable energy. The company's carbon-free energy portfolio now includes 712 projects with a total capacity of 42GW.

This expansion in renewable energy capacity corresponds with the company's data centre growth. In 2025, Amazon added more data centre capacity than any other company to meet demand for its AWS and AI services.

The company has invested in X-energy, a developer of small modular reactors, which as a result could add 5GW of new nuclear energy to the US grid by 2039.

AI tools across facilities

According to the report, Amazon has installed AI tools in 820 facilities to detect leaks and mechanical problems. Engineers at the company created an AI system that can identify materials in unsellable or non-donatable items.

The system was designed to improve recycling efficiency across the company's operations, which could mean better sorting processes at facilities handling returned or damaged goods.

"For Amazon's work in sustainability, we laid out our long-term vision starting back in 2015 when we first suggested net-zero goals in a planning meeting, which culminated in setting The Climate Pledge in 2019," says Kara Hurst, Chief Sustainability Officer at Amazon.

"Sure enough, we've encountered tremendous change in each of the seven years since. Perhaps none bigger than AI, which is both transforming what's possible — accelerating discovery, optimising systems and unlocking solutions that weren't within reach before — yet also creating new demands for energy, water and infrastructure."

Electric fleet deployment expands

According to the report, Amazon's total emissions increased by 16% over the past year as the business grew. However, carbon intensity dropped by 38% compared to 2019, demonstrating that the company is successfully decoupling its operational growth from its environmental footprint.

The company expanded its global electric delivery van fleet by 68% in 2025. More than 52,700 electric vans delivered 2.4 billion packages during this period.

Middle-mile logistics operations added over 360 electric heavy goods vehicles, which represents an expansion of electric vehicle use beyond final-mile delivery.

The company updated its packaging machines to use custom-fit paper and, consequently, it meant Amazon avoided using 288 million single-use plastic bags in North America.

Packaging changes reduce plastics

According to the report, almost three-quarters (73%) of shipments in North America arrived in materials that can be recycled at home. This figure relates to the shift from plastic to paper-based packaging materials.

The custom-fit paper system adjusts packaging size based on individual items, which could show how automation is being applied to material efficiency in fulfilment centres.

Changes to packaging machinery took place across multiple facilities in the region. The rollout affected how items move through sorting and packing stages of the supply chain.

Material choices at this stage of operations can affect downstream recycling infrastructure. Home recyclable materials reduce the burden on specialised waste processing facilities.

Water management in operations

Water management was a focus area for Amazon in 2025. The company is now 75% of the way to its goal of making its global data centres water-positive by 2030.

Amazon reached its 2027 water-positive goal for India two years early. The company achieved 120% water positivity in its operations there by using leak detection and on-site wastewater treatment.

"As we recently shared, we've been inventing and investing in technology to increase our water usage efficiency across our data centre footprint for many years already, and today our data centres are seven times more water-efficient than the industry average," says Kara.

"We also have more buildings than any other cloud provider using reclaimed water, and we're investing in water replenishment projects around the world that have helped us get 75% of the way toward our goal to be water positive by 2030."

"These things don't happen overnight, but I'm proud of where we are and we're pushing to go faster."