IKEA Australia has released its 2023 Sustainability Report1, highlighting a range of its most recent achievements and actions as part of its long-term commitment to make a sustainable life at home more accessible and affordable to the many.
The annual report outlines the progress IKEA has made on its overarching sustainability strategy, including the transition to become a circular business and becoming climate positive by 2030.
In 2023, IKEA Australia:
· Accepted over 22,500 pre-loved IKEA products through the Buy-back service, which were resold or donated.
· Sold over 640,000 products through the As-is department, including pre-loved products, products previously on display, discontinued, returned items and products with minor cosmetic damage.
· Repacked over 230,000 products through a dedicated Product Recovery & Quality team.
· Fulfilled 32,280 orders for free spare parts, enabling customers to prolong the life of products.
· Recycled 3,000 mattresses through its mattress recycling service, where up to 75% of components can be recycled.
Renea Robson, Sustainability Manager, IKEA Australia said, “At IKEA, it’s about giving everyone, everywhere the chance to enjoy a better life at home, where sustainability and affordability go hand-in-hand for our customers, while never compromising on product quality.
“Research we conducted for this report confirmed that living a more sustainable life at home is important to the majority of Australians2. We also know that saving money is a motivating factor for people to make more sustainable choices in the home, along with concern for climate change and future generations.
“In the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, we are dedicated to showing Australians how they can make better choices that are easy and affordable, while lightening the load on our shared home – the planet.”
The launch of the report coincides with the one-year anniversary of the IKEA Sustainable Living Shop, which launched in early 2023 across 10 stores.
The Sustainable Living Shop is a dedicated space that offers products, solutions, services, tips, and advice that supports its customers with easy changes in everyday life to minimise waste and use less water and energy in the home.
In 2023, IKEA Australia sold 28 million items from the Sustainable Living Shop, with top sellers being SOLHETTA LED light bulb, SALJEN mixer tap, LADDA rechargeable batteries and IKEA 365+ containers.
The report also features new research1, revealing a significant shift in the consumer perceptions of affordable and sustainable living with 77% of Australians agreeing that living a more sustainable life helps save money, a significant change to the previous year (2022: 52%).
Key research findings include:
· An overwhelming 4 in 5 (80%) Aussies said living a more sustainable life at home is important to them:
o 2 in 3 (68%) would decrease energy usage to live more sustainably.
o 2 in 3 (66%) would save water to live more sustainably.
o 2 in 3 (67%) would reduce food waste to live more sustainably.
· In the past 12 months from September 2022 to September 2023:
o 2 in 5 (44%) Aussies have left a piece of furniture on the kerb for council landfill collection.
o 1 in 4 (28%) Aussies have rescued furniture off the kerb avoiding landfill.
o 1 in 3 (35%) Aussies have bought or sold pre-loved home furnishings.
o 1 in 3 (32%) Aussies have bought a product or service because of its environmental or social benefit.
About the research:
1Research was commissioned by IKEA Australia and conducted online during September 2023 by Decibel Research, an independent market research services provider. The sample comprised of a nationally representative sample of 1,000 Australians, aged 18 years+. Decibel designed the questionnaire. Following the completion of interviewing, the data was weighted by age, gender and region to reflect the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics population estimates.
About IKEA:
IKEA offers well-designed, functional and affordable, high-quality home furnishing products, produced with care for people and the environment. There are several companies with different owners, working under the IKEA Brand, all sharing the same vision: to create a better everyday life for the many people. IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943.
About Ingka Group:
With IKEA retail operations in 31 markets, Ingka Group is the largest IKEA retailer and represents about 90% of IKEA retail sales. It is a strategic partner to develop and innovate the IKEA business and help define common IKEA strategies. Ingka Group owns and operates IKEA sales channels under franchise agreements with Inter IKEA Systems B.V. It has three business areas: IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres. Read more on ingka.com.
