Amazon India partners with IIT Roorkee to create packaging from agricultural waste

A new research partnership between Amazon India and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee is focusing on turning agricultural waste into sustainable paper packaging, aiming to address both environmental pollution and packaging sustainability.

Under the collaboration, researchers will work on converting wheat straw and bagasse into strong, lightweight, recyclable, and home-compostable paper mailers.

The project seeks to reduce reliance on virgin wood pulp while also tackling stubble burning, a major contributor to air pollution in several parts of India.

The research will be carried out at IIT Roorkee’s Department of Paper and Packaging Technology by a team led by Professor Vibhore Kumar Rastogi and Dr Anurag Kulshreshtha.

Over a 15-month period, the team will develop and test non-wood pulp materials to ensure they meet the strength and durability standards of conventional paper packaging.

If the trials are successful, Amazon plans to support industrial-scale testing, process validation, and commercial production by mid- to late next year.

“This collaboration between IIT Roorkee and Amazon is a step towards realizing India’s vision of a circular economy,” said Professor Kamal Kishore Pant, Director of IIT Roorkee.

“By transforming agricultural residues into biodegradable packaging materials, we are addressing stubble burning and reducing reliance on virgin materials while creating scalable solutions for industries and farmers,” he added.

The initiative is expected to create an additional revenue stream for farmers by generating demand for crop residues that are often treated as waste.

The use of lightweight and compostable packaging could also reduce plastic consumption and strengthen sustainability efforts across supply chains.

Abhinav Singh, Vice President of Operations at Amazon India, highlighted the scale of the challenge, saying, “India generates nearly 500 million tons of this waste annually, and by repurposing it into packaging, we can support a more circular economy while reducing reliance on conventional materials.”

Amazon India said it eliminated single-use plastic from its packaging in 2019 and now ships more than half of its orders in original or reduced packaging.

The company operates in over 300 cities and has committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2040. It also aims to return more water to communities than it uses by 2027.

If successfully commercialized, the project could help convert crop residues from an environmental burden into a valuable resource, offering both ecological benefits and economic opportunities while advancing sustainable packaging practices in India.