Thank you for contacting me about the destruction of unsold items at Amazon warehouses. I agree with you on this important issue. I believe it is absolutely scandalous for Amazon to destroy millions of items of unused stock simply because it does not want to pay to store them.

I believe Amazon has enough money to solve this problem – indeed, it has enough money to send its owner into space – and should act to resolve it straight away, without the need for regulation. However, as it appears that it has not yet chosen to do the right thing, I believe we may need regulation to require it to do so.

know several UK environmental charities including Greenpeace, the Environmental Investigation Agency, Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and Surfers Against Sewage, have written to the Prime Minister calling on the Government to introduce rules on what companies can and cannot do with unsold or returned products. They have called for the UK to follow the example of countries such as France, where an anti-waste law means companies must donate unsold non-food goods to charity unless they pose a health or safety risk.

The Government has said it is “aware of the recent news regarding Amazon and the alleged destruction of unsold stock” and is “closely monitoring the situation”. I hope it will give proper consideration to calls for action to stop the waste at Amazon warehouses and I can assure you that I will continue to support efforts to press it on this issue.

Thank you once again for contacting me.