Challenge

In its quest to minimize its environmental footprint, IKEA wanted to simplify sustainable choices for its customers, turning the complex concept of sustainability into an everyday habit.

Solution

IKEA is testing and developing new business models and circular services to enable its customers to extend the lifespan of their products through accessible solutions that motivate individuals to acquire, maintain and share them in sustainable, circular ways. The “Circular IKEA” initiative consists of several strands:

• Reuse: IKEA provides free spare parts so that its customers can easily replace a broken or lost part. A second-hand market allows customers to sell products they no longer need to IKEA, which will sell them to new customers.
• Refurbish: IKEA provides a restoration service for used and damaged products. The products are evaluated, cleaned, repaired, upgraded and recertified again, avoiding additional waste-to-landfill.
• Design for disassembly: IKEA is updating its products’ design to facilitate disassembly and reassembly, enabling customers to easily modify part of their equipment or even to store them efficiently.

Ultimately, when the three circular strands are not possible, IKEA ensures recycling of its products – arranging transportation of waste in places where local infrastructure for recycling is not yet in place.

Impact

The circular initiative, augmented with effective communication, enabled IKEA to achieve substantial progress: the company offered more than 21 million assembly components to customers, allowing them to extend the life of 18 million IKEA items in 2021. Moreover, more than 9,500 products have been assessed for circularity and 17% of material was recycled in 2021. These initiatives helped to reduce emissions from product use at home by 45% and emissions from product end of life by 7% compared to 2016.

Featured in our paper "The “No-Excuse” Opportunities to Tackle Scope 3 Emissions in Manufacturing and Value Chains"