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Sturgeon quizzed over Amazon funding after Dunfermline waste probe

Nicola Sturgeon was asked about the issue in parliament

Nicola Sturgeon was quizzed in Holyrood on Thursday about allegations Amazon is destroying millions of unsold items at its Dunfermline warehouse.

It follows an ITV investigation which suggested goods such at televisions and even coronavirus PPE were being sent for recycling after going unsold.

Amazon denied it was doing this because it was cheaper than returning goods to suppliers, but the levels of waste have been described as “obscene”.

Government funding

Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater raised the issues at Amazon Dunfermline with Nicola Sturgeon during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday.

“This week ITN revealed that the Amazon Warehouse in Dunfermline is destroying millions of new, unsold items including televisions, laptops and face coverings.

“This level of waste is obscene. In 2020 alone, Amazon’s net profit were over $20 billion.

“It is a company that has refused to pay the living wage,” she said.

Greens co-leader Lorna Slater in Holyrood.
Greens co-leader Lorna Slater in Holyrood.

The MSP added: “The Scottish Greens have previously challenged the millions of pounds of pubic money given to Amazon through Scottish Enterprise.

“In the last financial year £4.7 million for web services.”

She asked the first minister when the Scottish Government would “stop giving Amazon money”.

Nicola Sturgeon responded saying she did not have the exact details of the report raised by Ms Slater.

She added that the government attaches fair work and conditions to any financial support from enterprise agencies.

The first minister also said companies had a duty to protect the environment, questioning the acceptability of what Amazon is doing.

Amazon Dunfermline waste investigation

Undercover footage obtained by ITV shows high-value items like smart TVs, laptops and drones being sorted into boxes labelled “destroy” at the Amazon Fulfilment Centre in Dunfermline.

One anonymous former employee told the news channel their target was “to generally destroy 130,000 items a week”.

An Amazon spokesperson told The Courier: “We are working towards a goal of zero product disposal and our priority is to resell, donate to charitable organisations or recycle any unsold products.

“No items are sent to landfill in the UK. As a last resort, we will send items to energy recovery, but we’re working hard to drive the number of times this happens down to zero.

“We are committed to reducing our environmental footprint and building a circular economy programme with the aim of reducing returns, reusing and reselling products, and reducing disposals.”