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How Ikea is working to become a fully circular economy business by 2030

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Ikea is working with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation as it aims to become a fully circular economy business by 2030.

The furniture and homewares group aims to speed up its transition to a circular economy through its strategic partnership with the foundation, which launched in 2010 to focus on the area of reusing and recycling materials in order to decouple growth from the consumption of finite resources

“To become circular is one of our big ambitions and challenges for the future,” said Lena Pripp-Kovac, chief sustainability officer at Inter Ikea Group. “It is a transformational shift for our entire business. Our goal is to give products and materials a longer life through reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and, as a last option, recycling. We believe this requires leadership and collaboration.” She added: “One of our first projects together will be to develop a global common dictionary on circular economy that can support an industry-wide transition.”

Ikea started to test ways of refurbishing its old sofas for resale in 2019. It is currently looking at how customers might buy and then pass on products. It aims to introduce circular product principles into the development of all of its products. By 2030 it expects to use only renewable or recycled materials to make them and says that already more than 60% of its product range is based on renewable materials such as wood and cotton, and that more than 10% contains recycled materials.  

Andrew Morlet, chief executive of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, said: “The circular economy empowers businesses to rethink how they create value, in ways that benefit the environment, society, and the economy. This is an exciting opportunity to help transform an industry that is not only a significant part of the global economy, but has such a strong, personal connection to individuals and communities around the world.”

As well as developing new global definitions around the circular economy, the partnership also aims to inspire a new generation of circular designers – and shoppers – and to influence legislation to speed up the transition to a circular economy. 

Ikea is a Top100 retailer in RXUK Top500 research.

Image courtesy of Ikea

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