In Mercado Libre, sustainability is spread throughout our business strategy and is a key commitment of the new economy. We intend to reduce our environmental trail throughout our value chain, based on tangible actions, while making our part in the fight against climate change, and preservation of iconic natural ecosystems in the region. 

We are aware of the fact that protecting our heritage is essential to fight against the climate crisis and ensure essential environmental services for our lives. This is why we have created Regenera America (Regenerate the Americas)  a program by which we support biome restoration and preservation in Latin America, a region which hosts a quarter of the planet's biodiversity. We are talking about forests, bushes and farmland featuring exuberant flora and fauna as well as large water reserves, which play a key role in our planet Earth and in people 's welfare. They help catch and store atmospheric carbon, thus helping reduce climate change evolution.

Launched in 2021, Regenera América results from a joint effort among Mercado Libre, local communities and prestigious environmental agents to offer tangible solutions. During the first year, an early investment was made worth around USD 8 million to finance projects in the Brazilian Forest, known for its important river basin, and one of the most threatened ecosystems in Latin America.  In 2022, we invested USD 10 million in addition to 7.8 million invested in 2021, from which  5 millions were managed to be allocated so far, both in Brazil and in Pachama. Latin American organizations are able to apply for financing by submitting biome restoration and/ or preservation projects.

In this way, considering the ongoing proposals, we are working to restore 50 additional hectares in the Atlantic Forest, and plant 100,000 native trees in alliance with the Ecologic Research Institute (IPÊ), a model organization in terms of environmental issues. “Corredores de Vida”(Life Paths), is another initiative supported by us, which focuses on creating wildlife areas, restoring native forest ecosystems in degraded areas in the area of Pontal do Paranapanema, which is greatly significant due to its still alive biodiversity. We also have a project in Llanos de Apan, Mexico, intended to prevent the increasing soil erosion in the area, which has led to losing soil, and to improve the status of the aquifer through restoring 3,100 hectares. 

Through this and other actions, Mercado Libre shows its commitment towards the environment by concrete actions, while we lead and promote all necessary talks. We want to become a part of a change that requires to immediately reconvert the power matrix. Such change necessarily requires the articulation of governments, companies, academic sectors and other bodies. 

Another example of the above is that we are devoted to energy efficiency. On the one hand, we have installed smart meters to detect energy efficiency opportunities and reduce consumption. On the other hand, we have begun the process of supplying 100 % of our distribution centers and offices with renewable energies. This can be clearly exemplified by our main office in Brazil, which has been almost completely running on renewable energies since 2020. In 2022, we introduced 8 additional Mercado Libre distribution centers and we migrated them 100% to renewable energies, accounting to a total of 10 sites, comprising both centers and offices.

Sustainable mobility is also central to our business. To reduce the impact of our shipments, we continue to increase our electric fleet and promote innovative solutions, such as adopting trucks running on gas and biomethane, a renewable fuel, with less emissions than conventional diesels.

Apart from that, we have implemented packaging technologies and solutions, to contribute to materials distribution, reduce their use impact and become more efficient and innovative in managing available resources. All of our packagings and wrappings are recyclable, reusable, or compostable. We work on a constant basis to optimize sustainable management of materials, residues and waste.  Our shipping boxes are made of 100% of cardboard certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which allows us to track their value chain, or are 100% recyclable. We have increased the recycled plastic contents in e-commerce envelopes, and we keep on working towards increasing the introduction of materials that can be compostable at home. On the other hand, we have other waste recovery programs, with the aim of getting used materials back to the productive cycle. To say the least, 100 % of the cardboard we use is within circularity systems. Also, any unsold goods and products are donated, repaired and recycled, and introduced to a circular economy based on agreements with different NGOs.