IKEA's Environmental And Social Reports
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 10.14.05
When you have over 200 stores worldwide, with nearly 80,000 staff, servicing some 500 million customers annually, with about 10,000 products, sourced from around 1,600 suppliers in 55 countries, it’s likely that your ecological footprint is going to be substantial. So, what is IKEA doing to reduce theirs? They have a list of “substances which should not be used in IKEA products: These include; wood preservatives like 'copper chrome arsenic' (CCA), antimony compounds and PVC (with the exception of electrical cables). There is a similar list of “restricted substances” that includes the likes of any formaldehyde, which “shall be below E1 level in wood based products, and even stricter concerning textiles.” They note that in the long term all timber used for IKEA products will come from certified forests. And they acknowledge that FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified is the “only current standard that meets the long-term aims of IKEA”.
In their current [2004] environment report they publish an open letter from WWF which in part states; “However, from WWF’s perspective we would like to see IKEAput the FSC-label on more of their products.” IKEA state that they have one code o conduct for all their suppliers, which involves “rules for working conditions, minimum wages, overtime rates, trade union representation rights, waste management, chemical management, and emissions to air and water. IKEA will not tolerate child labour, discrimination or the use of timber from intact natural forests.” IKEA also financially support an UNICEF learning programs that helps school about 75,000 children in India’s Uttar Pradesh region.
The company's distribution centre, in the UK, uses light wells in the roof that automatically shut off the electric lights, when the sunlight reaches a set intensity, and the carpark apparently hides Britain’s largest geothermal heating and cooling plant, which services the centre offices. Read more in their environmental report, like an open letter from Greenpeace chastising them for not offering enough recycled content products, or about the watercans designed to stack inside each other, to reduce transport volume and fuel costs. They freely admit they could do more and are working on it.
However their record on cultural sensitivity seems to be less than strong as one or two commentators have observed.
IKEA is an ambitious big-box store, so they will be found guilty of many of the practices their competitors are scorned for.
They are also guilty of offering lots of flimsy plastic and wood stuff, but in their defense, that's what people effectively demand, and every big box store offers their share.
A friend of mine is an environmental consultant for IKEA, and he has told me that IKEA actually does more for the environment and social equity than many people are told of. He claims that it has something to do with Swedish culture that one does not brag about everything you do.
He also pointed out that IKEA's mission is different from most big-boxers in that the premise is to offer well-designed, practical goods to the most people possible.
I only wish that other stores like Home Depot and Wal-Mart could boast of a policy like IKEA's. I think I remember hearing that Wal-Mart is the U.S.'s largest employer, bigger than General Motors. That is truly frightening.
I work part time for IKEA in Schaumburg, IL. USA.
All experiences stated here are just about this one store.
The sheer volume of paper, plastic, glass, and wood that goes to recycling companies is staggering.
Our store is also involved in vermiposting. There is a semi-trailer parked in the dock area that receives all the food waste from the restaurant, bistro, and coffee shop. The happy little wormies eat it and make fertilizer. More importantly it stays out of landfills.
The office area uses recycled paper and laser toner cartridges, encourage carpooling and bicycling to work, sell AND use compact florescent bulbs and have in-store bins for consumer recycling of batteries and said CF bulbs....I'm sure I could go on but you probably get the idea.
No company IKEA's size is "Uber-green" yet but couple the environmental steps they try to take with supporting the peoples that make IKEA's products they certainly are better earth-stewards than most of the retailers out there big box or not.
Companies like Home Depot and Wal-Mart may never be able to do the same, because they are shareholder-owned, so are driven to answer profit agendas above all others.
IKEA is privately-owned, so they're free to adopt policies that are not solely profit-driven.
Of course, if they're smart, they'll find ways to be more responsible and generate a good profit. A good corporate citizen is worthless if they're just headed for bankruptcy.
IKEA recently held a green design exhibit at Industria Superstudio in Manhattan.
IKEA's green design PS 2006 collection
What's even better about IKEA is that we can love environmental and fair labor policies while non-treehuggers can gorge on the cheap prices. IKEA probably keeps a lot of people out of Wal-Mart for home decorating items.
Actually, being shareholder owned doesn't forgoe being at least partially green. The key is doing it in a way that's good for the company, for example, I used to work for Wal*Mart. Lets imagine they want to go green, how best to do it?
Set up a recycling center in the parking lot. Profits go to a local charity, this way Wal*Mart can donate more without it coming out of their pocket, point to it as another example of them supporting the local community, and point to it as an example of environmentally friendly policies. Also, it reduces the amount of waste being hauled off from the store, saving them money that way. Definately a win-win proposition.
Supposedly they're looking to go into the fuel business. Currently their fueling stations are operated and supplied by another company. This is the perfect time for them to create a green fuels arm of the company, say 3 grades of biodiesal, propane, diesel and possibly hydrogen. Getting in at the ground floor lets them get a lock on the market, another winner for the shareholders.
Other options are putting the store's roof to practical use. I worked at a 239,000 sq ft supercenter. Imagine how much solar you could put up there, or wind. If they generated excess power, they could sell it at a cut rate to the power company, driving local power prices down, and making money.
Its always possibly, you just need to think long term.
I've found Ikea's stuff to be good quality & lasting, which is pretty TH as well - reducing waste & replacement items. The only problem (and it's a biggie) is that in the UK their stores are few & far between, and a pain to get to. If I drive to Ikea to buy one or two 'green' items, the fuel i've burnt is far less eco-friendly than if i'd just bought stuff from a local (but less green) furniture store.
"However their record on cultural sensitivity seems to be less than strong as one or two commentators have observed."
Blah. Every 'old' building does not need to be preserved. Really, only in the U.S.A. is a building "old" at 100 or less. If preservationist want buildings to be preserved, buy the building.
There is some nostalgic 'charm' associated with many of these 'historic districts' that seems rather banal. These 'charming' buildings were cookie-cutter run-of-the-mill buildngs in their time. Are people going to hold up high a stripmall in 80 years the same way we hold up the downtown store fronts?
The waste that goes into 'revitalizing' buildings and maintaining an old building can easily be higher than starting anew.
Sometimes buildings, like kitchen appliances, need to be tossed and upgraded to maximize efficiency and lower an ecological footprint.
However, too much blue & yellow can be rather obnoxious.