Progress on sustainability - 2011 IKEA Sustainability Report

2011 IKEA Sustainability Report (PDF)

Sustainability is at the heart of what we do. Below are some highlights of how we made our business and our customers’ everyday lives more sustainable during 2011. You can find out more in the 2011 IKEA Sustainability Report and if you would like to know how we work with sustainability, you can read The IKEA approach to sustainability – How we manage sustainability in our business.

Highlights from the report

Driving energy efficiency

During FY2011*, energy efficiency across all IKEA stores improved by 4 percent compared to FY2010, helping us save 6.2 million euro and demonstrating how sustainability improvements can deliver strong business benefits. This was mainly achieved through improved energy efficiency of store equipment, such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and smarter use of commercial lighting. We are also enabling customers to save energy in their homes. During FY2011, we sold around 168,000 energy efficient induction hobs, which is nearly half of all kitchen hobs sold at IKEA.

Large donations from the IKEA Foundation

The IKEA Foundation aims to improve the opportunities for children and youth in developing countries by funding holistic, long-term programmes run by expert partners such as UNICEF and Save the Children. Programmes are designed to create substantial, lasting change, enabling communities in developing countries to take charge of their own future. Total donations from the IKEA Foundation increased to 65 million euro from 45 million the year before, and currently funded programmes are expected to benefit an estimated 100 million children.

Speeding up investments in renewable energy

IKEA has made major investments in renewable energy as we move towards our long-term goal of using 100 percent renewable energy. More than half of our buildings’ energy needs now come from renewable sources. Solar panel installations on 40 IKEA buildings in seven countries and 60 wind turbines produced 152 gigawatt hours (GWh) of “green” electricity this year, equivalent to around 12 percent of the electricity needed to run all IKEA stores and distribution centres.

Increased share of certified wood in the range

IKEA forestry requirements demand that all wood used in our products shall be of known origin, and we work in partnership with WWF and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) toward our long-term goal of sourcing all of our wood from responsibly managed forests that are independently verified. In FY2011, the share of FSC-certified wood in the IKEA range increased from 15.8 percent to 16.2 percent, bringing our total use of FSC-certified wood to 2.2 million cubic metres – equivalent to 55,000 fully loaded timber trucks.

Significantly more sustainable cotton in IKEA textiles

IKEA works with WWF and other local partners to help cotton farmers in India, Pakistan, China and Turkey to introduce more sustainable cultivation methods to their cotton-growing practices. More than 100,000 farmers now use techniques that significantly reduce the need for chemical pesticides, fertilisers and water. The share of more sustainable cotton in the IKEA range increased significantly in FY2011 – up to 50,000 tonnes, representing 23.8 percent of our total cotton use, compared to 13.4 percent last year.

*The fiscal year (FY) 2011 of IKEA runs from September 1 2010 to August 31 2011.