IKEA has further expanded its portfolio of green products with the launch this week of a new range of sustainable kitchen fronts made using recycled plastics and wood.
The KUNGSBACKA range has been manufactured from recycled PET bottles and reclaimed wood.
Around 25 half litre PET bottles are used to make the plastic foil that coats the range’s wooden kitchen fronts.
IKEA said the range had been developed in order to create a “sustainable kitchen without compromising on quality, design or price”.
The new products will be available from this month in matte-look anthracite with new colours planned for the coming months.
Anna Granath, product developer at IKEA, said the move was part of a wider push to use more recycled materials in the company’s products.
“What we do at IKEA has a big impact on the environment due to the large quantities we produce so by using recycled materials, we can create products which are more environmentally-friendly and sustainable,” she said in a statement. “Our ambition at IKEA is to increase the share of recycled materials in our products so we are looking into new ways to re-use materials, such as paper, fibre, foam and plastic, so that we can give them a new life in a new product.”
David Vine, IKEA UK and Ireland kitchens business leader, hailed the move to turn “everyday waste into beautiful furniture”.
“At IKEA we are very conscious of the impact of waste, knowing that plastic bottles take up to 1,000 years to decompose and that 70 per cent of all PET bottles end up in either landfill or worse in our seas and oceans, is of concern,” he said. “Today, 90 per cent of waste created in the kitchen is recycled but few think about the kitchen itself, we hope that the launch of this range will help people to think about the materials that are in their home furnishings and create a more sustainable home setting.”
The launch is part of a long running push from IKEA to deliver more sustainable products and curb its environmental impact. The multinational retailer has previously switched its entire lighting range to energy efficiency LEDs and has announced a multi-billion Euro investment plan to source clean energy for its operations.
Source: businessgreen.com
