The Last-Mile Warehouse Accountability Project
There are at least 1200+ Amazon logistic warehouses, including 846+ last-mile warehouses across the United States. In most locations, regulations for siting and building these warehouse don’t account for the negative environmental impacts these facilities have on their neighbors and local communities. By openly mapping this issue, this project aims to provide organizers, journalists, and community members with tools to hold e-commerce megacorporations, like Amazon, accountable to better environmental policy and regulation.
The map below shows the sprawling growth of Amazon last-mile and fulfillment warehouses from 2016-2025.
Background
The Last-Mile Warehouse Accountability Project is a public map of Amazon Last-Mile Warehouses (LMWs) and inventory of initiatives, tools, and strategies to mitigate their environmental impact. This project was developed with the belief that information asymmetry is currently giving Amazon the advantage, and greater awareness of the true impacts of LMWs will motivate neighbors, and consumers, to work with policymakers to hold Amazon accountable. We hope you will join this movement toward slow consumption and fairer commerce and transportation systems.
The global e-commerce market reached a high of $4.1 trillion in 2024, with an expected growth to $4.8 trillion in 2025. For every $1 billion in online sales, there is an estimated demand for 1.25 million square feet of warehouse space. As the convenience and speed of e-commerce delivery has been embraced by most consumers, it has also led to an increase of last-mile warehouses: the final physical stage of delivery, from where goods are transported directly to a customer’s location.
According to a report from the Environmental Defense Fund, around 15 million people in the US, including more than 1 million children under the age of five, live within a half-mile of a warehouse. The report also found that these warehouses are placed disproportionately in Black, Latino, Asian and American Indian neighborhoods and communities. These warehouses, which include freight and diesel trucking operations entering and exiting the warehouses, adversely affect the surrounding communities through increased air pollution. For example, if global e-commerce deliveries continue on their current path, they will emit up to 160 megatons of CO2/year by 2030; this is the equivalent of yearly CO2 emissions of roughly 44 coal plants.
Nationwide, Amazon and other corporations have been able to stand up these warehouses at huge scale, quickly, due to lack of regulations and concern for local residents. There is no ceiling in sight unless we act now.
We can change the trajectory of Last-Mile Warehouses in the United States. To get involved, access more data, and join the efforts, please contact us.
About
This program is a project of Urban Data Response, supported by Clean Mobility Collective, the Cornell Tech Urban Tech Hub, Consumer Reports, and over 30 network organizations across the United States.