Sustainable Innovation Fund grant awarded to Bezos.ai

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We will be using the Innovate UK grant to work on a new project named DECAF (Decarbonising E-Commerce Delivery and Fulfilment).

Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing £26 million to fund single and collaborative research and development projects as part of The Sustainable Innovation Fund. The investment will help power the UK’s post-pandemic economic recovery and develop new sustainable opportunities for businesses in every sector, while helping the UK meet its ambitions to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“Our vision is that green delivery and packaging will become a standard checkout option for all e-commerce businesses, making e-commerce fulfilment more sustainable.” - Rina Law, Program Manager, Bezos.ai

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E-commerce fulfilment needs to change

The e-commerce industry is booming, with the adoption of online shopping being dramatically sped up by the pandemic. Naturally, this has put a higher demand on e-commerce fulfilment, and with it, the carbon emissions of e-commerce businesses' supply chains have started to increase.

There is a real need for increased sustainability in e-commerce fulfilment and last mile logistics. Already we can see e-commerce sellers and their customers requesting environmentally friendly options.

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How we will use the grant

Bezos.ai is working to develop a network of green delivery and green packaging options for e-commerce businesses and customers to utilise. This aims to help the UK meet sustainability targets by cutting down emissions, waste and congestion at each stage in the fulfilment supply chain.

“We are working closely with other sustainably focused businesses to start by providing sustainable delivery options in London in 2021 and we aim to launch in other densely populated UK areas soon after.” - Rina Law, Program Manager, Bezos.ai

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Providing a sustainable choice

This is a part of Bezos.ai long-term vision for a sustainable and efficient end-to-end e-commerce fulfilment supply chain, where both e-commerce businesses and customers have a choice of affordable, reliable and fast green delivery and packaging options that are competitive with the current carbon dependent options in both cost and delivery service.

“Sustainable fulfilment will be a seismic shift in the e-commerce industry and we are proud to be at the forefront of this positive change for the UK and our planet.” - Diego Lijtmaer, Co-Founder, Bezos.ai

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Promoting greener e-commerce supply chains

The grant will help Bezos.ai to develop a sustainable fulfilment solution that is more accessible for all e-commerce businesses, with the first service scheduled for 2021 in London and then moving to other densely populated areas in the UK.

By proving that green delivery and green packaging solutions are viable in the current e-commerce market, Bezos.ai believes that this will promote greener operations across the entire e-commerce supply chain, helping to lower the carbon footprint for e-commerce businesses and assisting the UK to achieve its carbon emissions target for 2050.