IKEA Aligns its Circular Initiatives with EU's 2050 Goals

In the manufacturing industry, transitioning towards a circular economy to minimise dependency on raw materials presents a complex challenge with potential significant rewards.

Hege Sæbjørnsen, the Global Circular Strategy Transformation Leader at Ingka Group, the largest franchise of IKEA, plays a pivotal role in fostering this transformation.

“The whole economy is linear; for 200 years, industrial systems have been designed to take resources, manufacture products, sell them, and not think about what happens at the end," says Hege.

In her capacity, Hege translates complex circular economy concepts into actionable strategies for various segments of the business.

Economic gains from circular manufacturing

The European Parliament is aiming for a circular economy across the continent by 2050. For manufacturers, this shift promises benefits such as:

• Environmental protection through slower resource depletion and greenhouse gas reduction.
• Lower reliance on imported raw materials. Eurostat notes that the average European consumed 14.9 tonnes of raw materials in 2022, with EU imports nearing US$193bn in 2023.
• Enhanced competitiveness, stemming from innovation, economic growth, and job creation.

Ingka Group has identified over 9,500 products for circularity assessments and is committed to expanding this scope to support EU initiatives.

Leading IKEA's circular strategy

With over a decade in IKEA’s sustainability sector, Hege Sæbjørnsen began her journey as the Sustainability Expansion Manager, now championing the circular strategy and transformation for the company. She creates and leads cross-functional initiatives and oversees growth and innovation portfolios.

Hege's academic path includes a BA in Graphic Design from the University of the Arts London, an MA in Media, Image and Communication, supplemented by sustainability credentials from institutions like the University of Cambridge.

IKEA's actions towards circularity

IKEA's circular commitments are robust:

• Product design with circular properties, ensuring items can be reused, refurbished, remanufactured and recycled. For example, extendable beds grow with children, negating frequent replacements.
• Utilisation of sustainable materials, such as a bio-based glue from corn starch, offers a lower climate impact than traditional materials.
• Expansion of circular services, focusing on furniture buy-back schemes and the availability of replacement parts to extend furniture life.
• Collaboration with over 1,600 suppliers to reduce the environmental impact throughout IKEA's supply chain.

Hege notes: “There’s a line I love from IKEA: ‘complexity for the few, simplicity for the many.’ It’s not to undermine people but to recognise that businesses developing products and services need to understand people’s needs and create affordable, sustainable options.

“We cannot expect people with busy lives to figure it all out alone. It requires partnership, and we are working towards this at IKEA and Ingka.”

Challenges in implementing circular practices

Hege outlines the intricacy of integrating circularity as IKEA's major hurdle.

According to her, circularity is a dynamic, system-wide issue intertwined with finance, nature, climate and social aspects.

Hege adds: “Internally, sustainability has shifted from being an operational task to a core strategy with circularity woven throughout the value chain, influencing material selection, product design, service offerings to extend product life, advocacy and recycling investment campaigns.

“It has been a phenomenal change, but pragmatically, there’s still a long way to go to scale initiatives, reflecting where most companies are on circularity.”