IKEA has always tried to do more with less. This goes hand in hand with our environmental work - to use resources in an economical and careful way.
Three cornerstones in IKEA’s environmental work:
· Our cost consciousness and resource efficiency result in less usage of raw material and less waste and discharges.
· The extensive use of wood in our products. Wood is a recyclable, biodegradable and renewable material and it is excellent from an environmental point of view.
· Training and engaging our co-workers to work with environmental issues.

Energy Efficient Light Bulbs
IKEA, the world’s largest home furnishings retailer, understands the value of CFL lights, as well as the need for recycling them. IKEA has been offering these energy-saving light bulbs for over ten years. Consumers buy them for their affordability (only slightly more than regular incandescent bulbs), and their energy-saving capabilities. While they use 80 percent less energy than incandescents, they provide the same amount of light and reduce electric bill costs.

Compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs) can last up to 10 times longer than incandescent. In these times of environmental responsibility, this translates into better everyday energy practices and big cost savings.

Recycle Information
Bring your used mercury containing lightbulbs to the IKEA store for free disposal. Since our CFL bulbs contain a small amount of mercury, they should not be simply tossed out. IKEA offers the perfect solution: a ‘Free Take Back’ program offering recycle bins in all IKEA stores. Or for lamp disposal information for your state, please go to www.lamprecycle.org to obtain more information.

Join IKEA in reducing waste and "Bag the Plastic Bag!"
Join IKEA in reducing waste and "Bag the Plastic Bag"!

IKEA is asking our customers to join us in reducing plastic bags usage by 50% - from 70 million to 35 million in the first year. Beginning March 15th we will charge 5 cents for every "throw-away" plastic bag. All proceeds* from the first year of this program will be donated to American Forests, the nation's oldest non-profit conservation organization, to plant trees and offset CO2 emissions.

WHY? The amount of plastic shopping bags that we all use once and toss is overwhelming.
- The average family of 4 accumulates 1460 plastic shopping bags a year
- 100 billion are given away each year in the US
- Plus it can take up to 1000 years for a plastic bag to break down in the environment.

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE! IKEA has a great alternative to "throw-away" plastic bags - the IKEA Blue Bag. We've reduced the price on this large, reusable and durable bag to 59 cents. One of these bags can replace hundreds of "throw-away" plastic bags and has lots of great uses!

* A maximum contribution of $1,750,000 within 12 months

Resource efficiency
One of the reasons why IKEA’s prices are so competitive is that we always try to minimize costs. To keep costs low you have to be economical. We save on raw material, energy and other resources. As a consequence, we often also reduce waste and discharges.

At IKEA we develop the products ourselves, often in close co-operation with the supplier. This gives us the opportunity to take all aspects of a product’s life into consideration. From choice of raw material through production and distribution to end of use. Being economical when selecting raw material must be second nature for a product developer at IKEA. When possible, leftover material from one product is used in the making of another product.

Forestry
A large proportion of the raw material IKEA uses in the products is wood or wooden fiber. Wood is renewable, recyclable and biodegradable. It is a good material from an environmental point of view, provided that it originates from well-managed forests.

IKEA demands that the wood in our solid wood products does not originate from intact natural forests, unless they are certified. Our long-term goal is to source all wood in the IKEA range from verified well-managed forests, that is, forests that have been certified according to a forest management standard recognized by IKEA.

Training and engaging our co-workers
Committed co-workers are crucial to get a driving force in the environmental work. Throughout the IKEA Group, there are “environmental co-ordinators” working in different ways to increase environmental awareness by training and informing their colleagues on a continuous basis.

More information
Do you want to know more about how IKEA works with the environment?
In the brochure “Environmental and social issues” you can read about:
· Environmental and social responsibility
· Environmental adaptation of products and materials
· Forestry
· Suppliers – environmental work, social and working conditions
· Distribution – transport and warehousing
· The environmental work at our stores

Click here to view our Social & Environmental Brochure.