Media Contacts: Josh Chetwynd, jchetwynd@greencentury.com, 303-573-5558; Annalisa Tarizzo, atarizzo@greencentury.com, 781-349-2789
Boston, January 4, 2022 – Green Century° has filed a shareholder proposal with Amazon.com, Inc., urging the company to make significant cuts to its use of plastic packaging. Last year, Green Century filed a similar proposal that garnered support from 35% of shareholders – the highest ever vote on an environmental proposal at the company.
“We were disappointed with Amazon’s lack of response following the significant show of support for last year’s proposal,” said Annalisa Tarizzo, shareholder advocate with Green Century. “We believed we had no choice but to re-file.”
Although Amazon does not disclose information about its plastic footprint, research has shown that the company is one of the largest corporate users of plastic packaging. A recent Oceana study found that the company’s plastic waste has increased by one-third from 2019 to 2020 amid the influx of online ordering during the pandemic.
Oceana also criticized Amazon’s Second Chance program, which is supposed to help customers recycle the company’s packaging. This occurred after Oceana’s staff found 41% of the stores Amazon claims to be participating in the program do not accept the e-commerce giant’s plastic packaging for recycling.
Flexible plastic, which Amazon uses for many of its mailer envelopes, is not commonly curbside recyclable and, when released into the environment, has been found to be the deadliest type of plastic waste for marine animals like whales, dolphins, and turtles.
Green Century is a co-filer of the proposal. Sara Sackner is the lead filer, with support from As You Sow.
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About Green Century Capital Management
°Green Century Capital Management, Inc. (Green Century) is the investment advisor to the Green Century Funds (The Funds). The Green Century Funds are the first family of fossil fuel free, responsible, and diversified mutual funds in the United States. Green Century Capital Management hosts an award-winning and in-house shareholder advocacy program and is the only mutual fund company in the U.S. wholly owned by environmental and public health nonprofit organizations.
*As of September 30, 2021, Amazon.com, Inc. comprised 0.00%, 0.00%, and 0.00% of the Green Century Balanced Fund, the Green Century Equity Fund, and the Green Century International Index Fund respectively. As of the same date, other securities mentioned were not held in the portfolios of any of the Green Century Funds. References to specific securities, which will change due to ongoing management of the Funds, should not be construed as a recommendation by the Funds, their administrator, or their distributor.
You should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please click here, email info@greencentury.com, or call 1-800-934-7336. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing.
The percentage in favor was calculated by (i) dividing the number of votes in support of the proposal by (ii) the sum of the number of votes voted in support of and against the proposal. Abstentions and broker non-votes were not included in the calculation.
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This information has been prepared from sources believed reliable. The views expressed are as the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.
The Green Century Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 235 W Galena Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212. 1/22