Amazon implements global sustainability goals with launch of solar rooftop in UAE with plans to add Saudi Arabia and Egypt facilities in 2022
Starting on its sustainability journey, Amazon Middle East and North Africa (MENA) inaugurated its first on-site renewable energy project in MENA – a solar rooftop at Amazon’s largest Fulfilment Centre in the UAE, DXB3. The 5,565-panel rooftop will generate on-site solar energy to power 60 percent of DXB3’s energy demands – the highest permitted capacity in the UAE. The project is estimated to save 4.6 million kilowatt-hours of energy annually. This is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 2,500 tonnes each year, equivalent to planting more than 40,000 tree seedlings.
The solar rooftop is part of its global commitment to sustainability and in support of The Climate Pledge – a commitment to be net-zero carbon across all its businesses by 2040.
Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon MENA, commented, “We are proud to be operating in countries that have a heightened consciousness of the impact of climate change on future generations. As we embark on the path to a low carbon economy a decade ahead of the Paris Agreement, I call on businesses in MENA to join us as signatories to The Climate Pledge. By agreeing to decarbonise on a faster time horizon, we will play a critical role in stimulating innovation, policies and investment that will help tackle the climate crisis in our communities, our countries and our region.”
In MENA, Amazon is building more sustainable operations in three different ways and will establish metrics to evaluate progress and identify areas for improvement.
Creating energy efficient infrastructure
At a time when countries in the region are looking to reduce their consumption of fossil fuels, Amazon is committed to having all its Fulfilment Centres in MENA powered by renewable energy up to the maximum permissible capacity. Following DXB3 in the UAE, two more facilities in Saudi Arabia and Egypt are scheduled to be online by 2022. The company will continue to work with regulators, industry players and utilities partners to support public policy frameworks that expand the role of renewables across the region. In addition, Amazon will incorporate carbon friendly design concepts into its new buildings while also strengthening its control systems, data and analytics, to improve energy efficiency across all facilities.
Transforming transportation network
In line with the region’s ambitions to switch to low carbon transportation, Amazon will transform its transportation fleet in MENA through new technology, equipment, electric vehicles and alternative fuel; as well as introducing new delivery models that get packages to customers more sustainably. Pushing the boundaries of change, the company continues to work with mobility innovators and supply chain partners to explore zero carbon vehicles using electrification and low carbon alternative fuels.
Reducing waste in packaging
As governments in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt make efforts to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfills, Amazon is working to reinvent and simplify packaging in line with its global goal of carbon-neutral shipments by 2040. Reducing the carbon footprint of each Amazon parcel requires collaboration with partners to reduce packaging waste. Amazon will expand its Ship In Own Container (i.e. shipping in the product’s original packaging without the need for an Amazon box) programme to 12 percent of shipments in the UAE and 10 percent in Saudi Arabia in 2021. In addition, Amazon leverages advanced Machine Learning models to continue to optimise its packaging suite to reduce the size and weight of boxes resulting in fewer delivery trips.
Amazon continues to collaborate with government and industry partners in MENA, with an aim to support policy discussions and encourage sustainable innovations across the communities where it operates.
