Swedish home furnishing retailer IKEA has announced that it will completely eliminate the use of one-time plastic products from its stores and restaurants by 2020.
The company’s new policy will be applied in all of its stores across the globe. As a result, IKEA will be banning products such as disposable plastics and garbage bags as well.
IKEA will also promote sustainability among its customers through its offerings such as a tap nozzle that will help them save over 90% of water used, and start selling solar panels in 29 markets (5 at present) in the next seven years.
The Swedish company, which operates 418 stores across 49 markets, wishes to become ‘planet positive’ by 2030 and hence it is focussing on the sustainable initiatives. The retailer also aims to use 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020, while in another five years it plans to attain zero emission on deliveries and it will also use only renewable and recycled materials in its production process.
Inter IKEA Group CEO, Torbjörn Lööf said that with such a vast customer base and reach, the company can inspire more than a billion people to live their lives within the limitations of the planet. “We are looking to take charge and working with everyone from raw material suppliers to the end-customer for this initiative,” he added.
Furthermore, IKEA has, over years, reportedly invested around US $ 2 billion in renewable energy through which it has installed 750,000 solar panels and set up 416 windmills.
