ESG
“ Approaching this from one angle , we have democratic design in IKEA , which is about building to the magic formula of form , function , price , sustainability and quality together . We want good design to be available for everybody , hence it ' s called democratic design . When you hit the sweet spot and you get all of that right , it means that great design and sustainable design is truly affordable for the many ,” Pflug explains .
The company is designing for circularity , too . It is selectively using raw materials that can be regenerated and recycled afterwards .
“ On a customer level , we also give out spare parts to people around the world to help them repair their products , so they don ' t have to dispose of them if a part breaks . We had 1.6 million customers use the repair and extend life services last year , so that ' s a fantastic movement ,” Pflug outlines .
“ And then , Ingka Investments are also investing in innovative companies that enable us to achieve our circular agenda and help us to reduce waste . For example , with regards to food waste , we invested in Winnow AI technology - which is now in all of our stores - to help us reduce our food waste by over 50 % since 2017 .”
“ We ' ve also invested in RetourMatras , to take over a million mattresses in the Netherlands for recycling back to their constituent parts and materials . So while there is still a lot more to do , we feel we ' re on a really good path towards driving the circular agenda , to be able to keep products in use for longer . And then , once they do need to be disposed of , recycling them . That ' s our aim - to be fully circular by 2030 .”
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