Major retailer IKEA has shown that it recycled 77% of its waste in its financial year 2014.
In 2014, the company generated 477,714 tonnes of waste worldwide, which was 13% more than in 2013.
However, its total of 89.3% recycled or incinerated for energy recovery was higher than 2013’s 88.1%.
This is only just behind its target of 90% by 2020, but the company expects it to take a little longer to reach this target than its original deadline of 2015 because of the difficulty of lack of infrastructure in some countries.
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IKEA has also introduced a new target to reduce waste from its store operations by 10% compared with financial year 2013.
The retailer is also close to meeting its target that all of its products are renewable, recycled or recyclable by August 2015. It has currently reached 98% on this criteria.
IKEA also said that it is making progress on key materials that are not renewable or widely recycled, such as polyurethane foam, melamine and silicone.
It is currently exploring alternatives to polyurethane foam in its sofas and mattresses, and is phasing out melamine and will replace it with renewable polymers by 2015.
Silicone is being replaced by thermoplastic elastomers, but cannot be phased out completely as yet.
In its 2014 Sustainability Report, IKEA said: “With billions more people joining the consumer society, moving to a circular economy is critical to ensure their hopes and dreams can be met while staying within the limits of our planet.
“We are contributing to this shift by avoiding reliance on finite materials, with an aim to use only renewable, recyclable and recycled materials.
“But even with these materials, we can further reduce our impacts and better meet customer demands in the long term by finding ways to make more from less, and minimising waste.”
