Ikea Publishes Report on Their Sustainability Progress
Posted in: Uncategorized
With 9,500 different products, 280 stores in 26 countries, 23 billion Euros in annual sales, and a catalog more widely published than the Bible, Ikea leaves quite a footprint just by virtue of their size. Luckily they’re interested not only in minimizing that footprint, but also in making their processes transparent.
To that end they’ve just made their 2010 Sustainability Report available for public download. They open the document with letters to the public not only from the CEO, but from Steve Howard, Ikea’s Chief Sustainability Officer. (How many corporations have one of those?)
The 91-page document was clearly designed for public scrutiny—it’s as art-directed as their catalogs—and contains plenty of interesting facts about their efforts to push the company towards increasing green-ness, as well as detailing their targets for 2015. Some highlights of their accomplishments thus far:
– PRODUCT SCORE CARD: The introduction of the IKEA Sustainability Product Score card. This is a new internal tool for more sustainable product development and purchasing that will help classify the IKEA home furnishing range within 11 criteria that have an impact on the environment.
– CERTIFIED WOOD: The share of certified wood increased substantially from 16.2 to 23.6 percent.
– RENEWABLE ENERGY: The number of IKEA buildings with solar panel systems nearly doubled, taking us one step further towards the goal of operating all IKEA units on 100 percent renewable energy.
– IKEA FOUNDATION: Decision made to invest an additional 7.5 million euros in UNICEF’s water sanitation program in India. This support will help expand the scope of the program in 15 states.
– MORE SUSTAINABLE COTTON: More than 80,000 farmers in India and Pakistan are now using more sustainable farming practices. The share of more sustainable cotton in the IKEA range more than doubled compared to last year to 13.4 percent of total IKEA use.
Hit the jump to read about their initiatives in the United States and get the download link for the entire report.
Post a Comment