IKEA and IUFRO World Congress 2024
Forests for the future
In IKEA, our love for wood is engrained in our DNA – going all the way back to our beginnings in the forests of southern Sweden. To secure this precious resource for generations to come, we're supporting global forestry research, working to improve forest management standards and finding new, smarter ways of working with wood.
In FY23, wood and paper represented 69% of the total materials consumption of IKEA by weight, and 31% of our total climate footprint. Yes, these are big numbers, and come with an even bigger opportunity, and responsibility, to make a positive impact on the forestry industry on a global level. While there’s always more work to be done and challenges to be solved, significant progress in many areas is already underway.
We shared a few of the ongoing initiatives in IKEA as a partner of the IUFRO World Congress 2024, which took place in Stockholm. IUFRO, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, is a non-profit, non-governmental international network of forest scientists which promotes global cooperation in forest-related research. It aims to enhance understanding of the ecological, economic and social aspects of forests and trees, and their World Congresses are among the largest such forest-related events globally today.
Our partnership with the IUFRO World Congress 2024 shows our support for the efforts of the scientific and research communities and emphasises the importance of science-backed action plans for businesses and organisations connected to forestry. It also highlights our commitments – as part of the IKEA forest agenda – to making responsible forest management the norm, halting deforestation, enhancing biodiversity and supporting the rights and needs of people who depend on forests for their livelihood.
Can you guess?
Approximately how much of the world's surface is covered in forest?
Incorrect
Nope! Almost a third of the land area of the earth is covered in forest. While that might sound like a lot, deforestation continues to be a major issue – particularly in tropical rainforests. Despite the rate of deforestation decreasing in recent years, an area roughly the size of Iceland is still cleared every year. Source: fao.org/state-of-forests
WWF and IKEA: 20+ years of fruitful partnership
Since 2002, IKEA has partnered closely with WWF in numerous countries around the world to safeguard natural resources and transform business practices, for the benefit of people and the planet. By managing and protecting forests, tackling threats such as forest degradation and supporting laws that combat illegal trade in timber, our aim is to ensure forests – and the people that depend on them – have a healthy future. Beyond forestry, our work together also encompasses cotton, water and climate.
Restoring rainforest with
Sow a Seed
Deforestation and degradation of rainforests poses a major risk to the world's climate, biodiversity and more. Launched in 1998, our Sow a Seed project in Borneo has led to the protection and restoration of a total of 18,500 hectares of heavily degraded rainforest in Borneo, Malaysia, including the restoration of over 14,000 hectares (equivalent of about 25,900 soccer fields). It is now one of the world’s largest and longest-term tropical forest ecosystem restoration projects, with research being conducted to guide others who want to restore rainforests.
Can you guess?
Which country accounts for the largest percentage of wood used by IKEA?
Incorrect
Better luck next time! At 32% in FY23, Poland is by far the largest supplier for wood for IKEA, followed by Sweden and Lithuania – both accounting for 10% each.
AI-powered traceability
IKEA has a comprehensive wood control system in place to make sure all the wood we use in our products is responsibly sourced. At IUFRO 24, IKEA will share publicly, for the first time, an exciting forensic method that we have been working with to improve the accuracy of identification of wood species and origin.
We have partnered with World Forest ID, FSC and others to develop a unique AI model that gives us more detailed origin information of timber, enabling us to double-check the origin of the wood we use. How does it work? In short, chemical variables of key timber species are mapped out against land use information from satellite imagery. The samples of wood are taken from different parts of the supply chain, including final products, and the composition is analysed in labs.
If irregularities are discovered, immediate action will be taken. Under no circumstances do we accept wood that fails to meet our critical requirements.
Forensic forestry
Rattan is a fantastic and fast-growing renewable material used in many IKEA products. However, over-harvesting of rattan from the wild forests in Vietnam and Indonesia poses a major threat to biodiversity and ecosystems. In 2023, following four years of research, the IKEA business in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the UK, launched a first-of-its-kind DNA database of rattan species that will be made publicly available.
The database includes a new test protocol to identify and protect threatened species, which will enable the IKEA business to confirm sourcing and ensure no threatened species are sourced. By launching this database and sharing all the tools publicly, the aim is to inspire other businesses to make use of them and increase the traceability of their rattan supply chains too.
Can you guess?
In FY23, approximately how much of the IKEA total wood use was recycled wood?
Incorrect
It's even more than that! Around 17% of all wood used by IKEA in FY23 was recycled wood. And, we're working to almost double this figure in the next six years, leading up to our goal of at least one-third of recycled wood by FY30.
From fibreboard to fibreboard
In FY23, the share of recycled content in particle board we use was 30%, but just 0.3% in fibreboard. That’s a number we’re working to improve. In late 2023, IKEA successfully piloted an IKEA-patented recycling process which allows fibreboard to be recycled into new fibreboard products, like SMEVIKEN and SUTTERVIKEN.
Composite wood materials, including fibreboard, made up 65% of our total wood use in FY23 – so this is great step in the right direction. As a next step, this process is now being used in the onboarding of machine suppliers.
BILLY: maybe not new, but very
much improved!
The BILLY bookcase needs no introduction. With well over 100 million units sold since its launch 1978, this bookcase is not only a best-seller, but also a great example of how small improvements can make a massive impact on a big scale. In FY22, BILLY was redesigned to improve its circular capabilities. Shifting to paper foil and reducing plastic means that most materials used to produce the latest version of BILLY will come from renewable sources.
Follow our progress beyond the IUFRO World Congress
This was just a snapshot of how we're working with wood and forestry within IKEA. Below, you can find a complete overview of the wood we work with today, as well an interactive map of the countries we source from globally.