The packaging industry is notorious for its excessive dependence on plastic usage. In fact, the packaging industry uses about 40% of all plastic production in the world. Needless to say, if we can shift from plastic in the packaging industry, we can greatly reduce the rampant plastic pollution.
The good news is that the global furniture giant is addressing the issue head-on and has announced plans to phase out plastic packaging by 2028.
Packaging is one of the key components of IKEA’s business model. Each year, the company needs more than 920,000 tons of packaging materials to maintain its shipment needs.
The company was already focusing on reducing the use of plastic for product packaging. Currently, less than 10% of the total packaging consists of plastic material. The company is planning to only use renewable and recycled materials for packaging.
The transition will happen in two stages. By 2025, all of the “new range” will have plastic-free packaging. And by 2028, all IKEA furniture will have plastic-free packaging.
Phasing out plastic in consumer packaging is the next big step on our journey to make packaging solutions more sustainable and support the overall commitment to reduce plastic pollution and develop packaging from renewable and recycled materials. The shift will happen progressively over the coming years, and mainly be focusing on paper as it is both recyclable, renewable, and widely recycled across the world.
Erik Olsen, Packaging & Identification Manager at IKEA of Sweden
However, we’ll have to wait a long time to see the complete transition.
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