Ikea to rent, recycle furniture in green push
STOCKHOLM: Ikea will start renting and recycling furniture worldwide as part of an eco-friendly drive to address concerns its affordable, flat-pack business model leads to overconsumption and waste.
Sceptics see the Swedish giant’s initiative as a marketing ploy, while supporters see a genuine seachange. Either way, Ikea says it plans to become a circular business by 2030.
The company has already begun repairing and re-packaging products in every store that have been damaged in transit, as well as allowing customers to return products for resale or donation to charities.
Ingka Group, which operates 367 Ikea stores worldwide, earlier this year launched a pilot leasing furniture in four countries, a project it now plans to expand to all of its 30 markets.
But Ikea’s 2030 goal could be difficult to attain, given its current carbon footprint.
“The main challenges in making a shift to a circular economy are related to sustainable logistics (transport, storage, product assembly), services (repair, maintenance), and waste management,” said Cecilia Cassinger, a professor of strategic communication at Sweden’s Lund University.
Ikea aimed to reduce its overall climate impact by 70 per cent on average per product by 2030.
“The biggest opportunity for reducing the Ikea greenhouse gas footprint comes in raw materials and the life of products in the homes of Ikea customers,” it said in a 2018 sustainability report.
According to another report issued earlier this year, Ikea’s raw materials represented more than a third of its greenhouse gas emissions, at 36.4 per cent.
Transporting goods and customers’ transportation to stores — which are usually located outside city centres — accounted for 19.4 per cent of emissions.