Ikea to trial renting furniture

20th February 2019


Ikea shutterstock 777656563

Related Topics

Related tags

  • Business & Industry ,
  • Retail and wholesale ,
  • Sustainability

Author

Andrew Maguire

Ikea is to trial a new renting scheme for office furniture such as desks and chairs in an attempt to help customers “make the circular economy a reality“.

The pilot project is to start in Switzerland, but if the new model proves popular among business customers it could be rolled out across other countries and extended to home furniture.

Ikea has already introduced a range of circular initiatives in the UK, including second life return options for furniture, and in 2018 sent zero waste to landfill for the third year in a row.

The latest project is part of the company's efforts to become a fully circular business by 2030.

A spokesperson said: “We have an ambition to inspire and enable people to play an active role, which we can support by developing new ways for people to buy, care for and pass on products.

'In order to become a fully circular business by 2030, this can only be achieved through collaboration. In addition to working with customers, we are partnering with stakeholders to work together and share experiences.“

This comes after IKEA announced last year that it plans to remove single-use plastics from all its global stores and restaurants by 2020 in a bid to “inspire sustainable living“.

The company has also pledged to only use renewable and recycled materials by 2030, and will incorporate circular economy principles into the design of all new products.

Moreover, it said it would become 'climate positive' during that time by reducing more greenhouse gas emissions than its value chain emits, cutting each product's climate footprint by an average of 70%.

“Becoming truly circular means meeting people's changing lifestyles, prolonging the life of products and materials and using resources in a smarter way,“ Inter IKEA Group sustainability manager, Lena Pripp-Kovac, said.

“To make this a reality, we will design all products from the very beginning to be repurposed, repaired, reused, resold and recycled.“

Image credit: Shutterstock

Subscribe

Subscribe to IEMA's newsletters to receive timely articles, expert opinions, event announcements, and much more, directly in your inbox.


Transform articles

Facing the climate emergency challenge in local government

It’s well recognised that the public sector has the opportunity to work towards a national net-zero landscape that goes well beyond improving on its own performance; it can also influence through procurement and can direct through policy.

19th March 2024

Read more

Dr Julie Riggs issues a call to arms to tackle a modern-day human tragedy

15th March 2024

Read more

Disgraced environmental consultant Peter Lovebrother is another month nearer retirement…

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) strategy is based on optimistic techno-economic assumptions that are now outdated, Carbon Tracker has warned.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK’s new biodiversity net gain (BNG) requirements could create 15,000 hectares of woodlands, heath, grasslands, and wetlands and absorb 650,000 tonnes of carbon each year.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s latest Public Attitudes Tracker has found broad support for efforts to tackle climate change, although there are significant concerns that bills will rise.

13th March 2024

Read more

Multinational corporations are undermining their net-zero commitments with excessive air travel and no plans to reduce ‘the low hanging fruit’ of carbon footprints, a study by Transport & Environment has found.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s climate adaptation plans are ‘inadequate’ and falling ‘far short’ of what is required, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has warned today.

13th March 2024

Read more

Media enquires

Looking for an expert to speak at an event or comment on an item in the news?

Find an expert

IEMA Cookie Notice

Clicking the ‘Accept all’ button means you are accepting analytics and third-party cookies. Our website uses necessary cookies which are required in order to make our website work. In addition to these, we use analytics and third-party cookies to optimise site functionality and give you the best possible experience. To control which cookies are set, click ‘Settings’. To learn more about cookies, how we use them on our website and how to change your cookie settings please view our cookie policy.

Manage cookie settings

Our use of cookies

You can learn more detailed information in our cookie policy.

Some cookies are essential, but non-essential cookies help us to improve the experience on our site by providing insights into how the site is being used. To maintain privacy management, this relies on cookie identifiers. Resetting or deleting your browser cookies will reset these preferences.

Essential cookies

These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website.

Analytics cookies

These cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors to our website and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works.

Advertising cookies

These cookies allow us to tailor advertising to you based on your interests. If you do not accept these cookies, you will still see adverts, but these will be more generic.

Save and close