‘This Is a Huge Scandal:’ Amazon Slammed For Destroying As-New And Returned Goods

Amazon is destroying “massive amounts” of as-new and returned items in Germany, according to a report from business weekly WirtschaftsWoche and news show Frontal 21. The types of items being destroyed here go way beyond the “health and personal care” products that Amazon has long been destroying when people return them, for sanitary reasons. We’re talking things like washing machines, smartphones and furniture. The revelation drew an angry response from the German government and environmental campaigners. “This is a huge scandal,” Jochen Flasbarth from the German environment ministry told WirtschaftsWoche. “We are consuming these resources despite all the problems in the world. This approach is not in step with our times.” Greenpeace’s Kirsten Brodde said there was a need for a new “law on banning the waste and destruction of first-hand and usable goods.” How much of a scandal is this, though? Read more at Fortune.