Where sustainability is business as usual

As the Airbus A 380 majestically descends down to the Kastrup airport in Copenhagen, Denmark, you are greeted by the clear light blue sky above and the dark blue water below, dotted by offshore wind farms like little pearls bobbing in the sea. The sight confirms you have entered the Nordic countries.

It is a region where sustainability is not just another word but a serious commitment, where governments drive it as a mission and people take it up as a passion.

The drive en route to Almhult, in Sweden, about 180 km from Copenhagen, is lined with windmills, green and yellow farms. These set the tempo for the near three-hour journey as we head to where IKEA has its roots.

The €32.7 billion furniture retailer, like the Nordic countries, takes sustainability very seriously. Its “people and planet positive” motto means a continuous thread in whatever the company and its employees do.

“We use it to drive innovation, transform our business, shape our investments and unleash new business opportunities,” says Lena Pripp Kovac, Sustainability Manager, IKEA of Sweden evoking the guiding principles of the founder Ingvar Kamprad.

The company has set an internal target to generate more energy than it consumes through renewables by 2020. As of 2015, it has installed over 7,00,000 solar photo-voltaic panels and more than 314 wind energy mills across various countries it operates. The energy generated could power Ireland for two weeks, it claims.

At last count IKEA’s installed wind capacity was 684 MW, where wind energy annual output forecast is 1,862,346 MWh. The solar PV size is 96,368 kWp, and the annual PV output is 113,026 MWh.

“During FY15 we produced 2,412 GWh of renewable energy from wind, solar and biomass (heat). This is equivalent to 53.4 per cent of total energy consumption in our own operations.” Adding purchased electricity from renewable sources, the share was 62 per cent, Kovac explains.

Since FY09 IKEA invested €1.5 billion into renewable energy, and in June 2015 committed to invest another €600 million in its own wind and solar power generation equipment.

For wind, IKEA has commitment to own and operate turbines in 10 countries including France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, United Kingdom, Poland, Ireland, Canada and USA. Solar installations are planned for 17 countries including Croatia, USA, Canada, China, Japan, Australia, Denmark, The Netherlands, UK, Czech Republic, Portugal, Spain, Italy France, Belgium and Germany.

IKEA is set to begin its India journey with its first store in mid-2017 in Hyderabad, followed by stores in Mumbai where it has recently acquired land. Kovac says, “At the moment the only decision taken in regards to renewables in India is to have solar roof tops at our stores. However, we have started to look into the possibilities of acquiring a solar or wind park in India but this is in its infancy.”

However, sustainability an all pervading theme for the Swedish retailer, be it for the textiles or the wood components used in its products. It has been sourcing carpets from Uttar Pradesh’s Bhadohi and Mirzapur districts for over 26 years and sells them through its 385 stores in 45 countries. Recently it developed an innovative loom design — christened ‘Punja' — in Varanasi which allows one woman to do the job of two men. IKEA has installed these looms in partnership with Eastern Home Industries, one of its 60 suppliers in India.

IKEA's efforts at the Better Cotton Initiative have paid rich dividends over the years. Now all the cotton it uses for products comes from more sustainable sources, which means farmers supplying cotton use less water, fertilisers and pesticides, while increasing their profits.

In FY 2015, half of the wood the company used came from sustainable sources, with an aim to grow that to 100 per cent. The wood is sourced from 33 million hectares of certified forest area. It has also switched to LED lights for every store worldwide and supplies them as well.

If the entire IKEA staff take to LED, it has been estimated that the power thus saved would be enough to support some 6,00,000 homes for a year, says Kovac.

(The writer was in Sweden at the invitation of IKEA)

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