Our circular agenda
At IKEA, our main priorities are to drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the IKEA value chain and move toward the use of only renewable or recycled materials by 2030. We also want to inspire and enable the many people to live a better everyday life within the boundaries of the planet. This is a huge change that impacts every aspect of what we do, from how we meet customers to which products and services we develop. It will affect our complete IKEA value chain and the sourcing of energy and materials.
9500+
products have been assessed for circularity.
23.16 million
assembly parts were offered to customers in FY23 to extend the life of their IKEA products.
There’s a growing awareness of the impact humanity has on the planet; it shapes the way people value the things they own, what they care about, and how they make buying decisions. No one wants to be wasteful, but people struggle with how to maintain, repair, and eventually pass on things they believe still have value. At the same time, many can’t afford what they need for everyday living.
We’ll continue to make products affordable and accessible by developing circular services and solutions for customers who want to care for the products they already own, those who can’t afford or don’t want to buy new products, and those who want to pass things on. We will never compromise on quality and safety.
Our commitments and goals by FY30:
Designing all products with circular capabilities
To ensure all products can be reused, refurbished, remanufactured and eventually recycled, we have developed circular product design principles to guide us through this process. We will innovate and invest in our home furnishing offer and always lead with Democratic Design. It’s about doing things right from the beginning and designing products that enable a systemic shift towards a circular economy.
Designed to move and grow with you
A key enabler to prolonging the life of products is built-in, easy-fix flexibility. One example is the wedge dowel, a click-technique that eases the assembly, disassembly and eventual reassembly of IKEA furniture so the customer can take it with them when they move. Another example is extendable beds that are designed to grow with your child for many years.
Circular design that’s adaptable
When we design for standardisation and adaptability, it ensures products can be reused and refurbished through scalable maintenance and repair services. Standardised parts also allow remanufacturing by reusing parts in other products. At IKEA, we are creating circular solutions for existing and new customers to acquire, care for and pass on products.
IKEA shares online product assessment tool to accelerate the circular movement
We are committed to designing all products with built-in circular capabilities by FY30. To inspire others to do the same, we are now sharing our insights through an online, easy-to-use interactive tool created for designers, companies, and anyone who wants to assess the furniture and home furnishing products they already have at home.
Using renewable or recycled materials
Materials are the biggest contributor to the IKEA climate footprint, where extraction and processing of raw material represents more than 50%. We aim to only use renewable or recycled materials sourced in a responsible way by 2030. Our material agenda is speeding up as we find new sources and develop new materials.
Innovating to reduce the use of resources
Laminated veneer lumber (LVL) is an engineered wood product that reduces the use of wood by up to 40%. This new material is strong enough to replace metal in some applications, which greatly reduces the climate impact. The process also generates less waste than many other processing methods. The iconic KLIPPAN sofa is one example of how we are using this new technology to create better, more sustainable products at lower costs.
Continuing to increase the share of recycled polyester in our supply chain
In 2020, we reached the milestone of 90% recycled content in textile products made of polyester. In FY21 we widened our measurement scope to include all polyester and fibre applications, excluding rigid plastic, but including all fibre-based applications such as filling in cushions, duvets, sofas, mattresses and other similar products. In FY22, 88% of the polyester in our supply chain was recycled.
Alternatives and end-of-life solutions for foam
We’re constantly looking into alternative materials and end-of-life solutions for products. This includes innovations that reduce the amount of foam we use in products that provide comfort, like beds and sofas. We’re currently working with the recycling company RetourMatras B.V. to reduce foam pollution. Additionally, we’re in the final stages of testing recycled polyol, which has the potential to remove 3 million mattresses a year from incineration or landfill. And after using renewable polyols made of soy for six years in North America, we’re now introducing this alternative material in Europe.
Developing more circular services
As always, nobody can do everything alone – which is why we need to develop long term relationships with our customers and co-create the future together. To do this, we are testing and developing new business models and concepts. We want to enable customers to prolong the life of their IKEA products through convenient solutions that inspire people to acquire, care for, and pass them on in circular ways.
Creating markets for second-hand items
A growing number of IKEA markets buy back IKEA furniture from customers who no longer need it, and re-sell these good-quality second-hand items to new customers in the As-Is areas. IKEA Sweden has tested an innovative pop-up store stocked entirely with second-hand IKEA products. Experiences from this test will be used to learn more about the potential of this service.
Making it easier to prolong product life
Customers can order assembly parts (i.e. nuts, bolts and screws that are shown in assembly instructions) through an online tool. In FY23, we provided 23.16 million assembly parts to enable customers to prolong the lifespans of IKEA products (FY22: 21.5 million).
Joining forces with others and leading by example
At IKEA, we want to lead by example, influence change, and share our stories and insights while listening and learning from others. We work with long-term commitments and relationships with suppliers, business partners, NGOs, communities and different stakeholders around the world. All to accelerate the transformation from a linear to a circular economy.
We work with more than 1,600 suppliers to minimise the environmental footprint of the IKEA supply chain while improving working conditions.
IKEA partners and collaborators have become increasingly important in solving complex challenges. For example, we are collaborating with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) to establish a common language around circularity. In September 2021, EMF published a glossary of circular terms created in collaboration with IKEA.
Through our advocacy efforts, we support policymakers with knowledge and experience as they set the legislative foundation to enable a systemic transformation into a circular economy. We’re focusing on creating clarity as well as providing a factual basis for global common definitions and cross border regulatory alignment.