Colourful, foldable storage boxes 33 x 33 x 33 cm red

Product Information

In 2020, we achieved the milestone of replacing 79% of the virgin polyester used in IKEA textile products and will accelerate the transformation towards the aim of only using recycled polyester throughout the product range where polyester is used. As part of our commitment to people and the planet, all single-use plastic products from the global home furnishing range were phased out in 2020.

DRÖNA white, Box, 33x38x33 cm - IKEA DRÖNA white, Box, 33x38x33 cm - IKEA

Our journey towards only using recycled or renewable plastic will take some time and require new ways of doing things, but we are determined to take responsibility and find new solutions. These volumes make us a leader in converting to recycled polyester and we hope that our decisions can inspire and motivate whole industries to change.What’s nice is that polyester can be recycled over and over, without changing or losing its great qualities. It is a main component in a large amount of our products and has a wide variety of applications from surface materials such as paint and foil, to screws and shelf pegs.

KOSINGEN Box, beige, 33x38x33 cm - IKEA KOSINGEN Box, beige, 33x38x33 cm - IKEA

Instead, PET and other sources of polyester are used to make textiles, storage boxes, kitchen fronts and even lamps. There is a lot of valid concern regarding how plastic impacts the environment and at IKEA we take this very seriously. PET is the most recycled plastic in the world and can be used for many different purposes such as plastic bottles and containers for packaging food and beverages as well as for personal care products, pharmaceuticals and many other consumer products. In volume, this means we converted 130,000 metric tonnes of recycled polyester, and saved 200,000 tonnes of virign polyester.Polyester is a durable, wrinkle-resistant and easy-care material that is ideal for many home furnishing products like rugs, pillows, quilts and cushions. When we make products from recycled polyester, we give a second life to material that is not biodegradable and reduce the amount that may otherwise end up in landfill or the ocean. Recycled polyester is just as good as virgin polyester in terms of looks, quality and function, and produces about 50% less in CO2 emissions. IKEA is committed to end the dependency on virgin fossil materials and only use renewable or recycled materials by 2030. The amount we convert, is equal to the amount of virgin fossil fuel we eliminate from our polyester raw material (this excludes potential dyeing and other post recycled polyester production treatments).

Plastic storage boxes and drawers | Argos Plastic storage boxes and drawers | Argos

IKEA uses recycled PET that is post-consumer based, which means it is based on collected and sorted PET bottles. Currently more than 40% of our plastic products are based on recycled and renewable materials and our aim is to reach 100%. Recycled plastic allows us to give a second life to non-biodegradable products such as PET bottles that would otherwise end up in landfill. By only using recycled polyester that meets the Global Recycled Standards we manage to secure social, environmental and chemical practices at the recycler’s production.We work with our partners and textile organisations such as Textile Exchange to further improve standards on recycled materials, including traceability of material beyond the recycling units.