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On 22 August 2024 Ethical Consumer viewed the website of Amazon.com Inc looking for details on its approach to device sustainability, including repairability, longevity, and the use of recycled materials in its products.

When assessing repairability, Ethical Consumer also viewed the iFixit website. iFixit rates tech products on their approach to repairability, awarding devices a mark between 0 and 10. It stated:
"Under our working definition, a highly repairable device:
- Is straightforward to disassemble and reassemble, non-destructively and reversibly
- Requires only inexpensive, widely available tools for common fixes, and
- Gives priority access to critical components—those most crucial to device function and/or most likely to require service.
[...] To calculate a score, our engineers have to fully disassemble the device and record the results, using a rubric that accounts for every action, tool, and obstacle in the process."

Ethical Consumer used up to 5 of the most recent product scores to calculate an average score for each company, but scores older than 10 years old were discounted. Ethical Consumer used available scores for all product categories that a company produced. For example, if the same company owned a laptop brand and a phones / tablets brand, the scores for each product category would be used to produce an average score for the whole company. The iFixit average score was used to assign companies into the scoring categories detailed below.

If no or insufficient iFixit data was available (at least one score in relevant product categories within the last 10 years), Ethical Consumer searched the company's website and reporting for information on its approach to repairability. Points were awarded for prioritising easy disassembly and reassembly, making replacement parts easily available, using standardised screws and components, and making repair manuals comprehensive and readily available for the majority of each company's products.

For the repairability section:
70 marks were available for companies with an iFixit average of 10, or, if no iFixit data was available, that were deemed to have repairability at their core.

40 marks were available for companies with an iFixit average of 7, or, if no iFixit data was available, that had clearly prioritised key repairable components across the majority of their product range. For example, all batteries and screens are easily repairable with repair manuals provided, but other components are not.

20 marks were available for companies with an iFixit average of 5, or, if no iFixit data was available, that had at least some key repairable features on the majority of their products.

Ethical Consumer also considered the company's average warranty length, awarding 20 marks to companies with 4 year+ warranty coverage.

Ethical Consumer also looked for information on the company's use of recycled materials in its products.

30 marks were available for companies which used a more significant amount of recycled materials (˜20%) across their whole product range.

10 marks were available to companies which discussed and demonstrated the use of recycled materials, but in lower or unspecified amounts.

1. Repairability

The company had an average iFixit score of 3.

For this the company scored 0 points.

2. Warranty

The company was not found to provide an average warranty of 4+ years. Most own brand products had a two year warranty For this the company scored 0 points.

3. Recycled materials

The company was found to be using a more significant amount of recycled materials in its tech products. It stated on its web sustainability page: "As of the end of 2023, among Echo, Fire TV, Fire tablet, Kindle, and smart home products, we had various products made from majority- or all-recycled content, including those containing 75% recycled plastic, 100% recycled yarn, 100% recycled aluminum, and 90% recycled magnesium. We also incorporated 50% recycled plastic into certain power adapters that ship with our devices."

For this the company scored 30 points.

Final scores are capped at 0 or 100. Overall, Amazon.com Inc scored 30/100 for Tech Sustainability.

Reference:

iFixit Repairability Index (22 August 2024) Amazon Sustainability (22 August 2024)