IKEA wins circular economy award at World Economic Forum

New Delhi, January 24, 2018: IKEA has been selected as winner in The Accenture Strategy Award for Circular Economy Multinational at the world Economic Forum in Davos. IKEA has won this award in recognition of its work leading to sustainable transformation of the IKEA business in all aspects: from product development, material sourcing, supply chain development, logistics set up, to development of the meeting with customers. This comprehensive agenda paves the way for the use of more renewable and recycled materials, enabling materials and products to last longer while staying within the limits of our planet.

Patrik Antoni, Deputy Country Manager and Sustainability head, IKEA India said, "We are very proud of this achievement and reinforces our vision of creating a better everyday life for the many people. Sustainability needs to be integrated into businesses at all levels. In India, IKEA will take full responsibility at all levels to leave a positive footprint in everything we do, be it with supply chain, retail operations or in our product offer to create a more sustainable life at home. We have started many initiatives towards energy efficiency, waste management, recycling and community participation for a more sustainable India.”

About IKEA:

IKEA offers well-designed, functional and affordable, high-quality home furnishing, produced with care for people and the environment. There are several companies with different owners, working under the IKEA Brand, all sharing the same vision: to create a better everyday life for the many people. IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943.

About IKEA India:

The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people and we offer well-designed, functional and affordable, high quality home furnishing, produced with care for people and the environment. There are currently 403 IKEA stores in 49 countries with a sales volume of 38.3 billion euros. 936 million customers visited IKEA stores in FY17 and more than 2.3 billion people visited IKEA online. Our 194,000 co-workers from all over the world are the inner strength of IKEA, sharing fundamental humanistic values of togetherness, humbleness, simplicity, cost-consciousness and common sense.

IKEA has been sourcing from India for over 30 years for its global stores. In India, it currently has 50 suppliers with 45,000 direct employees and 400,000 people in the extended supply chain. The IKEA Group is the first major single brand retailer to get FDI approval and plans to open several stores across the main metro cities in India. 

In India, when it comes to sourcing, one of IKEA’s biggest priorities is to source locally available sustainable raw materials such as bamboo, jute, banana fibres, sugarcane, coconut, water hyacinth etc. that will make the IKEA range more sustainable and unique. And this is co-created with suppliers who share the same vision. IKEA has collaborated with Industree Producers in Karnataka to make special edition products from banana fibre that are sold in its stores worldwide. Around 800 women artisans are engaged in this initiative. IKEA has also partnered with a supplier in western India to manufacture products from 100% recycled plastic. IKEA is also talking to many state governments to set up bamboo sourcing facilities.

“Transforming IKEA into a “circular” business is one of our biggest ambitions and challenges for the future. It’s about smarter use of resources and from the very beginning designing products so they can be repurposed, repaired, reused, resold or recycled in any other way. It requires an innovative mind-set, working together with many stakeholders”, says Peter van der Poel, Managing Director, Range & Supply, Inter IKEA Group. “We are only in the beginning. This prize is inspiring and indicates that we are on the right track.”

The award ceremony took place on Monday, January 22nd of 2018 in Davos, Switzerland. The prize was accepted on behalf of IKEA by Peter van der Poel, Managing Director, Range & Supply, Inter IKEA Group.