IKEA Philippines shares progress on sustainability journey

Swedish home furnishing brand IKEA continues its vision of creating a better everyday life for the many people – and the planet.

Ikano Retail, the IKEA franchisee in the Philippines, recently released an overview of its sustainability direction and a report card on its performance towards 2025 sustainability targets – ranging from sustainable product sales in their stores and gender balance in the workplaces to a full accounting of its carbon emissions.

This report covered stories from the 2023 financial year, September 2022 – August 2023 and focused on the brand’s sustainability commitment on inspiring healthy & sustainable living, being more circular and climate positive, and creating a fair and inclusive culture.

Healthy & Sustainable Living

IKEA has been an advocate for sustainable living and continues to enable its customers by developing a wide range of sustainable home solutions and food items that are affordable to the many Filipinos. Last year, IKEA sold 1,020,920 sustainable home furnishing items in the Philippines, ranging from energy-saving bulbs to furniture made of sustainably sourced materials. To date, 73% of home furnishing products at IKEA are either made of renewable or recycled materials.

The proactiveness of IKEA Philippines towards building a sustainable future runs deeply within the company’s culture, giving its co-workers a strong sense of purpose and environmental practice, with over 90% of them feeling that they know how to take care of (92%) and actively contribute to (95%) the planet.

Another commitment by the brand is to have 50% of the main meals at the Swedish restaurant plant-based by 2025. Last year, IKEA closed at 33% with this goal, with the HUVUDROLL plant ball; a worthy plant-based alternative to its popular meat counterpart, as one of the offerings.

Circular & Climate Positive

IKEA also implements measures in its operations to be more circular and climate positive, from the circularity of its business, recycling and waste management systems, to electrifying home deliveries.

Last year, IKEA Philippines recovered a total of 10,880 products worth over 9 million pesos to refurbish and promote a circular economy from used products that were impressively deemed ‘good as new’ by their customers, showcasing high quality standards and innovation.

With an innovative recycling and waste management system in place, IKEA Philippines has been able to recycle 61% of its paper and plastic waste in its store operations. On food operations, IKEA recorded a 70% reduction in the volume of food waste compared to previous year.

Moreover, the company’s long-standing partnership with electric vehicle company, Mober, has thrived into increased usage of sustainable transport, as IKEA has reached one-fourth (7.7%) of the way from its target for EV deliveries (33%) by 2025 while continuing to push further and accelerate its electrification.

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Fair & Inclusive

Since its opening in 2021, IKEA has endeared itself to the Philippines, emerging as one of the most beloved brands. While showcasing sustainability best practices among retail companies, the brand fundamentally centers its positive impact on people.

IKEA Philippines has also manifested inclusivity from the inside-out, achieving a gender balance in their workforce across their organization, with the gender ratio of 45.9% female and 54.1% male.

To create a positive impact in the community, IKEA Philippines maintains its partnership with with social enterprise Rags2Riches (R2R) as a sewing services partner in IKEA Pasay City. Within its operation, R2R had upcycled 4,000 kilograms of scrap fabrics and generated P7 million in revenues from IKEA which directly impacted 250 families.

A Sustainable Future Together

IKEA has been one of the retail industry’s proactive leaders for sustainability, and the openness of the Philippine market towards achieving a sustainable future also serves as a driving force for IKEA Philippines to continue its path to positive change.

With how they have managed to incorporate sustainability in their success, IKEA Philippines also seeks to inspire the many people and even other companies to adopt similar practices and build a more sustainable future for everyone.