IKEA is Making a Big Change
Published May 1, 2019 at 6:40 pm
Nowadays, more often than not, when you go into a restaurant your drink will either come with a cardboard straw or no straw at all, as opposed to a plastic straw – all in efforts to help protect the environment.
Now, like many restaurants across the country, IKEA Canada has announced that the retailer has also phased out all single-use plastic straws across the country.
“Plastic straws have become an important symbol in the global movement to drastically reduce plastic pollution in our oceans and waterways,” Melissa Mirowski, Sustainability Specialist, IKEA Canada, said in a recent press release. “Together with our co-workers and customers, we are proud to take this significant step to contribute to a world without waste.”
IKEA Canada made this announcement on May 1, 2019 – nine months ahead of the company’s goal to eliminate all single-use plastics from its product range and restaurants by January 1, 2020.
The decision to eliminate single-use plastics is part of IKEA Canada’s People + Planet positive sustainability strategy that was introduced back in June of 2018. As noted in the release, the retailer is working to become a fully circular business by 2030.
So, what exactly does this mean?
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“This means transforming the current linear business model and designing products with re-use, repair, repurposing and recycling in mind from the beginning, using only renewable, recycled and recyclable materials, eliminating waste, and introducing services which connect with customers to extend the life of products,” reads the release.
There are three main change drivers outlined in the Canada’s People + Planet positive sustainability strategy to help fulfill the IKEA vision. These drivers are as follows.
- Enabling healthy and sustainable living
- Becoming a circular and climate-positive business
- Being fair and equal
In addition, as noted in the release, IKEA’s sustainability commitments include, but are not limited to:
- Designing all IKEA products to be 100 per cent circular, generating as little waste as possible
- Making all IKEA products and packaging from renewable and recycled materials by 2030
- Achieving zero emission home delivery by 2025
- Inspiring and enabling more than 1 billion people to live a better everyday life within the means of the planet by 2030
- Phasing out virgin fossil plastics from products by 2030
- Reducing food waste by 50 per cent by 2020
As single-use plastics are phased out, IKEA Canada will work to introduce more sustainable alternatives. This will include introducing biodegradable paper straws in both its product range and restaurants.
What do you think of this announcement?
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