Furniture giant IKEA has revealed a new buy-back program aimed at encouraging the number of people recycling their furniture with discounts on new products.
IKEA says that the program will launch at the end of November on ‘Black Friday’, with the brand offering discounts on new products for consumers recycling their furniture through the buy-back initiative.
IKEA will offer customers a discount of up to 50% on new products, depending on the quality of the furniture or product they’re bringing to be recycled. As new products will receive a 50% discount, while “very good” items with superficial scratches will be eligible for a 40% discount. “Well used” items with more significant damage will be eligible for a 30% discount on a new item.
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A spokesperson for Ikea has said that “by making sustainable living more simple and accessible, Ikea hopes that the initiative will help its customers take a stand against excessive consumption this Black Friday and in the years to come.”
The company added that the recycling buy-back initiative is “an opportunity to meet customers’ needs in ways that contribute to a circular economy.”
Ikea also says that customers can bring their furniture in completely assembled, where an employee will check the condition, and issue a discount voucher to the customer for participating in the recycling buy-back program.
According to a report from The Guardian’s Sarah Butler, “the company is attempting to build a circular business model in which materials and products are reused or recycled,” and that “the company is investing more than 3.2-billion euros on sustainability measures to become carbon neutral by 2030.”
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Ikea’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Pia Heidenmark Cook has said that “a circular economy can only be achieved through investment and collaboration with customers, other businesses, local communities and governments, so we can eradicate waste and create a cycle of repair, reuse, refurbishment and recycling.”
Ikea says that by 2021, the company will have rolled out recycling stations across all its stores in major countries, where customers will be able to take part in a buy-back that encourages recycling.
Peter Jelkeby, who works as Ikea’s retail manager for the UK and Ireland has said that “sustainability is the defining issue of our time and Ikea is committed to being part of the solution to promote sustainable consumption and combat climate change.”
“With the launch of Buy Back, we are giving a second life to many more Ikea products and creating more easy and affordable solutions to help people live more sustainably. It is an exciting step forward in our journey towards becoming a fully circular and climate positive business by 2030,” Jelkeby concluded.
The company has also announced that it will be opening the doors of a second-hand furniture store in Stockholm, in what could be a potential pilot for rolling-out of more second-hand stores around the globe.
