Published 07 October 2020 • Inter IKEA newsroom
Businesses play a key role in enabling sustainable living
People want to become healthier and more sustainable, but more affordable solutions are needed to help turn thoughts into action. This is one of the key findings in the GlobeScan survey, released today. IKEA has the opportunity and responsibility to lead the way by making healthy and sustainable living affordable, attractive and accessible for the many people.
“These insights further confirm the importance of making sustainable products and services affordable and desirable. It shouldn’t be a luxury for the few. We will use our scale to inspire and enable the many people to live a better everyday life within the boundaries of the planet by 2030,” says Lena Pripp-Kovac, Chief Sustainability Officer at Inter IKEA Group.
The study surveyed 27,000 people’s attitudes, opinions, and behaviours linked to enabling healthier and more sustainable lifestyles. The number one action that people want companies to take to enable sustainable living is make more affordable products and services that are better for both the people and the environment (50%). Results from the study also show that nearly three-quarters (74%) of people want to reduce their impact on the environment and nature by a large amount. People want to choose products that last longer (77%) and avoid disposable goods (59%). A significant number of meat eaters would be willing to switch to plant-based alternatives (41%) if it tastes equally good, has the same price and nutritional value. The younger generations are more likely to want to make changes.
“We want to make healthy and sustainable choices the default option. This study shows that many people find it challenging to find good solutions. IKEA wants to play an important role by for example making circular services easy and affordable and by demonstrating that plant-based food can be really delicious – such as newly launched our plant balls.” says Lena Pripp-Kovac.
Examples of IKEA solutions to inspire and enable sustainable living:
- The plant ball HUVUDROLL, a more sustainable alternative to the iconic IKEA meatball, has only 4% of the climate footprint of the meatball but the same taste and texture. The plant ball was introduced to the IKEA range globally August 2020. - IKEA announced on September 30, 2020 that all non-rechargeable alkaline batteries will be removed from the global home furnishing range by October 2021. - Designing products from the very beginning to be repaired, repurposed, reused and recycled – using the IKEA Circular Product Design Guide. The aim is for all IKEA products and packing materials to be based on renewable or recycled materials by 2030. - Aiming for 100% recycled polyester in textile products by the end of 2020 - Offering/testing circular services that support people to: - Acquire products (rent, share, buy secondhand) - Care for products (repair, upgrade, adapt) - Pass on products (return, sell, donate and recycle), furniture leasing is tested - IKEA will open the first secondhand store in Sweden this autumn