IKEA Canada phases out single-use plastic straws

Burlington, ON – IKEA Canada has sold its last plastic straw. Today, the retailer announced it has phased out all single-use plastic straws in Canada, nine months ahead of its global commitment to eliminate all single-use plastics from its product range and restaurants by January 1, 2020.

“Plastic straws have become an important symbol in the global movement to drastically reduce plastic pollution in our oceans and waterways,” said Melissa Mirowski, Sustainability Specialist, IKEA Canada. “Together with our co-workers and customers, we are proud to take this significant step to contribute to a world without waste.”

Detailed in its People + Planet positive sustainability strategy, eliminating single-use plastics is part of IKEA’s wider commitment to become a fully circular business by 2030. This means transforming the current linear business model and designing products with re-use, repair, repurposing and recycling in mind from the beginning, using only renewable, recycled and recyclable materials, eliminating waste, and introducing services which connect with customers to extend the life of products. As single-use plastics are phased out, IKEA will seek to introduce more sustainable alternatives, including new, biodegradable paper straws in both its product range and restaurants.

“The world is changing rapidly and we know bold action is required to tackle the sustainability challenges we face,” said Michael Ward, President, IKEA Canada. “This is one positive step on our journey to become fully circular and climate positive in our operations by 2030. Looking forward, we are committed to transforming the IKEA business to be ever more sustainable, including reimagining the lifecycle of our resources, dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions and inspiring and enabling our co-workers and customers to live a better everyday life within the means of the planet.”

IKEA’s new People + Planet Positive strategy was introduced in June 2018 and outlines three main change drivers to help fulfil the IKEA vision: enabling healthy and sustainable living, becoming a circular and climate positive business, and being fair and equal. 

IKEA’s sustainability commitments include, but are not limited to:

• Design all IKEA products to be 100 per cent circular, generating as little waste as possible
• Make all IKEA products and packaging from renewable and recycled materials by 2030
• Achieve zero emission home delivery by 2025
• Inspire and enable more than 1 billion people to live a better everyday life within the means of the planet by 2030
• Phase out virgin fossil plastics from products by 2030
• Reduce food waste by 50 per cent by 2020
  
  

To contribute to a more circular business model, IKEA Canada recently launched its Sell-Back program. The service enables customers to apply to sell their gently-used IKEA products back to the retailer and IKEA in turn gives the product a second-life through resale or donation.