IKEA retailer announces investment into waste recycling infrastructure

IKEA’s largest distributor, Ingka Investments, part of Ingka Group, is investing €1 billion (US$1.4 billion) through its initiative, Circular Investments, in companies transitioning to a circular economy. Circular Investments focuses on plastic, mattress, textile, wood and food waste.

According to Ingka Investments, less than 20% of waste globally is recycled annually. The distributor aims to recycle more end-of-life products into secondary raw materials to help facilitate circularity.

Peter van der Poel, managing director at Ingka Investments, says: “Our €1 billion ambition to invest in growing recycling infrastructure is crucial to Ingka Group’s broader sustainability strategy, which goes beyond our operations. Through investments, we are committed to ensuring that valuable materials are recycled and reused in producing new products.”

Ingka Investments estimates that since 2017 its companies have recycled 2.7 million tons of materials, avoiding over 9.4 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

“Environmentally resilient” investment

Circular Investments’ portfolio includes companies such as recycled household plastics innovator Morssinkhof Rymoplast, and mattress company RetourMatras. 

Investment into Morssinkhof Rymoplast, a global producer of recycled plastics, has resulted in doubled recycling capacity — 515,000 tons annually. 

Lukas Visser, Circular Investment portfolio manager at Ingka Investments, says: “To future-proof our business, we want to invest in financially and environmentally resilient companies. Ingka Investments is committed to transitioning toward a circular economy and retaining the value of materials.”

“For us, that means investing in companies developing technology or growing capacity to prevent waste or supply recycled materials.”

Circular Investments supports companies transitioning to a circular economy.  Additionally, Circular Investments supported RetourMatras, a company that recycles old mattresses into valuable material by producing repoliol, an alternative to fossil-based materials in foam products used by Ikea in 31 furniture lines. 

Regulating plastic production

Efforts to regulate the production and recyclability of plastic products in large corporations indicate societal and regulatory pressure to become more environmentally conscious. 

Earlier this month, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste released its third Solution Model playbook, providing a roadmap to reintroduce mixed plastic waste streams into the value chain using scalable recycling methods.

Meanwhile, Zero Waste Europe’s founder, Joan Marc Simon, recently blamed oil-producing countries for the “low-ambition” outcomes of the recent UN Global Plastic Treaty negotiations. Simon, who attended the INC-5 discussions in Busan, South Korea, said that the Arab League, Russia and India are actively derailing progress in environmental sustainability.