John Kerry says Amazon 'emerging and developing' after ITV News investigation reveals piles of waste

The United States envoy for climate change, John Kerry, has said he believes Amazon is “emerging and developing” when asked about ITV News’ investigation into the company’s piles of waste.

Undercover filming from inside an Amazon warehouse revealed the sheer scale of waste, which includes Smart TVs, laptops, books and sealed face masks – all sorted into boxes marked “destroy”.

The prime minister told MPs last month he is “shocked and amazed” by our reports.

Amazon’s practice is not illegal under current UK law, but when asked by ITV News for his reaction to our findings and if companies should be penalised for putting profits before the planet, Mr Kerry said he has spoken to CEOs of several companies – including Amazon.

“Amazon is, I think, emerging and developing and I know some of the folks there and I’ve talked to them,” he said.

“I think they’re becoming more and more engaged in, for instance, electrifying their fleet of vehicles, making sure their airplanes become more sensitive, using fuel, dealing with packaging, packaging is a real challenge.

He added: “My sense is that I just had a meeting of CEOs, including Amazon and Apple and UPS, and a bunch of these folks came together and they were very seized by this issue.

“And I’m encouraged that I think in the… next days we’ll see more and more coming out of them.”