MIT Solve: Amazon Sustainability Pilot Program Grant

The MIT Solve: Amazon Sustainability Pilot Program aims to help climate tech innovators validate and scale their solutions to achieve Amazon's goal of net-zero carbon by 2040. This program invites proposals for technologies that can enhance environmental sustainability in Amazon's North American operations, focusing on logistics and transportation. Eligible applicants include startups with innovative solutions ready for real-world deployment, particularly those addressing material handling, decarbonization, and energy efficiency.

As a co-founder of The Climate Pledge, Amazon has a goal to achieve net-zero carbon across their global operations by 2040. Achieving this ambitious goal requires breakthrough technologies that can be validated and scaled within Amazon's complex North American supply chain.
The Amazon Sustainability Pilot Program offers climate tech innovators a unique opportunity to validate and pilot their innovative solutions to help advance environmental sustainability across Amazon's buildings and transportation operations in North America. Amazon’s North America (NA) Operations enable the behind-the-scenes work required to move packages to customers, covering buildings where packages are processed—fulfillment centers, sortation facilities, delivery stations, and more—and the transportation networks that connect these facilities and deliver to customers. This call for proposals seeks technologies ready for real-world validation, with the potential for integration across Amazon's operational ecosystem.
Amazon's North America Operations span complex logistics and transportation networks where validated pilot projects are essential before technologies can scale. While Amazon is already making progress in areas such as renewable energy, electric delivery vehicles, and more sustainable packaging, emerging technologies from climate tech innovators of all types—startups, scale-ups, established companies, and more— will be critical to achieving the 2040 net-zero goal.
Material separation technologies that efficiently separate multi-material items (e.g. removing food from packaging, depackaging chipboard boxes) and route components to appropriate waste streams with minimal manual intervention
Robotics and AI-powered sorting solutions that automate waste stream identification and decision-making for operational and inventory waste (e.g. cardboard, packaging, damaged goods, donations), with real-time reporting and analytics
Product tracking innovations (e.g. product passports, RFID solutions) that provide material composition data for waste disposition decisions
On-site recycling and circular economy innovations that enable material recovery and reuse, with emphasis on solutions that can scale to diverse geographic locations across the U.S. and Canada, including rural areas
Material innovations that leverage existing recycling pathways, including adhesive-free labels, paperless tracking solutions, and alternatives to small plastics and plastic wrap

Eligibility

This opportunity is ideal for climate tech startups that:
Have solutions at mid-to-high technology readiness levels (TRL 6-8+), ready for real-world validation and deployment in an enterprise-scale environment, OR are developing transformative technologies at lower TRL levels (TRLs 4-5) that are ready for third-party technical due diligenceAre available to engage in third-party technical due diligence activities and/or piloting with Amazon in 2027 or later if selected, with specific timeline and activities determined collaboratively based on business requirements and technology readinessDemonstrate financial stability with diversified funding sources and/or revenue streamsHave a clear path to cost parity* with existing technologies and/or a favorable financial profileHave existing operations in North America or a clear pathway for North American integrationAre developing solutions in material handling equipment or conveyance decarbonization, lower-carbon fuels for hard-to-decarbonize transportation applications, waste optimization, or other transformative technologies with clear sustainability benefits