European e-commerce leaders IKEA and H&M have announced plans to increase sustainability and lower their carbon emissions in 2023 by changing materials and adding recycling.
Ikea’s 2030 climate goals include boosting renewable energy use, reducing the climate footprint of its materials, and addressing the glue that holds some of the furniture giant’s most popular products together.
The glue IKEA uses to make its beds, sofas and other products make up 5% of its total carbon impact, according to its 2022 Sustainability Report.
“Moving toward glues from renewable sources is a key enabler to achieving our overall climate goal,” IKEA said in the report. “But a big challenge with bio-based glues remains that not all are compatible with our current conventional glue and application technology. Factories will have to switch to organic glues and update their machines and technology.”
The company has a target to become climate-positive by the end of this decade. Since 2016, IKEA has reduced its emissions of carbon dioxide equivalents by 12%, including by 5% last year, as per the report.
Sustainability changes will impact the whole company
The Swedish retailer says it will address emissions across its supply chain and operations, from factories to transport, and target the impact of its roughly 460 stores. The company plans to increase the share of renewable energy in its supply chain, targeting 100% renewable energy in its production by the end of the decade. In 2022, its production ran on 50% renewable energy.
IKEA’s energy goal includes helping suppliers finance solar panels and boilers at factories through a program launched in 2021, which focused on supporting suppliers in China, India and Poland, where coal use is among the highest. It will now expand to countries including Germany, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Turkey and Vietnam.
“One of the biggest drivers behind our reduced emissions has been the movement toward more renewable energy,” said Andreas Rangel Ahrens, head of climate at Inter IKEA Group, the brand’s global franchiser.
In 2018, IKEA laid out plans to use only renewable and recycled materials in its products by 2030. However, emissions from materials have grown about 11% in the past six years. Ahrens attributed the gain to an increase in production volumes.
H&M to give used clothing a second chance
H&M has announced it is expanding into the business of textile sorting in partnership with recycling company Remondis, as it forms a venture to try and tackle waste in the fashion industry.
Remondis, which ranks among the biggest recycling firms in the world, will work with H&M under the banner of Looper Textile Co. The standalone venture will collect used and unwanted clothing and resell them to second-hand fashion companies and the recycling industry. It’s expected that this will extend the life of about 40 million garments in 2023 alone.
The initiative follows similar drives from Spanish fashion retailer Zara, and French-based brand Decathalon. The latter changed its name to “Nohltaced” in order to promote its reverse selling scheme.
The fashion industry under pressure to be greener
In the past few years, the fashion industry has faced numerous accusations of greenwashing. According to a 2021 report that analysed the websites of twelve of the largest British and European fashion brands, including H&M, more than 50% of the environmental claims made were found to be “unsubstantiated” and “misleading.”
To tackle this issue and contribute towards the circular economy, Looper Textile will collect garments from municipal containers across Europe and from H&M’s in-store collection program. The company estimates that 60% of ordered items are usable for resale. Those items will then go to European online platforms and off-price second-hand chains in Eastern Europe or importers in Africa. A third of the clothes will be sent to recycling plants, where they can work as car insulation or sofa stuffing. The process is known in the sector as “downcycling.”.
