Originally, all polyester was made from oil-based raw materials which are not renewable but we are switching to only using recycled polyester. The good thing is that polyester can be recycled over and over, without changing or losing its great qualities. When we make products from recycled polyester, we give a second life to material that is not biodegradable and would otherwise end up in landfill or the ocean. Instead, PET bottles and other sources of polyester are used to make textiles, storage boxes, kitchen fronts and even lamps. Recycled polyester is just as good as virgin polyester in terms of looks, quality and function but requires less that half the energy to produce and lowers CO2 emissions by up to 50%. And the material is just as clean and safe in every way.

Recycled polyester makes us less dependent on oil. The amount we convert, is equal to the amount of virgin fossil fuel we eliminate from our polyester raw material (this excludes potential dyeing and other post recycled polyester production treatments). With some exceptions, the challenge is not the conversion of polyester into recycled itself, but to make it available to everyone by keeping it affordable. Buying low environmental impact products often come with a higher price tag. We want to change that by working to make recycled polyester products more affordable and accessible to the many people.

IKEA is committed to end the dependency on virgin fossil materials and only use renewable or recycled materials by 2030. We are accelerating this movement for polyester in our range and aim to replace all virgin polyester in our textile products with recycled. In 2020, IKEA replaced 90% of the virgin polyester used in IKEA textile products with recycled polyester. We haven’t reached our 100% goal yet, but we have come far and overcome many obstacles on the way. These volumes make us an industry leader in converting to recycled polyester and we hope that our decisions can inspire and motivate whole industries to change.

At IKEA, we demand that all recycled polyester used in IKEA products shall come from recyclers that are compliant with the Global Recycled Standard and traceability is secured to the IKEA product through requirements toward the IKEA Suppliers. By only using recycled polyester that meets the Global Recycled Standards we manage to secure social, environmental and chemical practices at the recycler’s production. We believe that the GRS standard is the best standard on the market today. We work with our partners and textile organisations such as Textile Exchange to further improve standards on recycled materials, including traceability of material beyond the recycling units.