Meatless meatballs, compressed cardboard, and a living wage: Ikea PHL focuses on sustainable practices

IKEA hits the ground running in 2024 not only with renewed sustainability practices, but also an expansion of its operations within the Philippines — but no one is promising that a new Ikea store is opening.

Last week, Ikea had a press conference at their SM Mall of Asia complex discussing their sustainability commitments that go beyond promising reduced carbon emissions but also inclusive hiring and paying above-minimum wage levels to its employees.

Angie Lat, Business Navigation and Operations Manager for Ikea Pasay City said, “The objective is to ensure that all our partners are also doing sustainability practices.”

Aside from citing their long-standing partnership with social enterprise Rags2Riches (R2R) as a sewing services partner (for which they have upcycled 4,000 kilograms of scrap fabrics and generated P7 million in revenues from Ikea), Ms. Lat also discussed other things they have made from their waste. The bulk of their waste is cardboard from their packaging (she calculates that about 65% to 70% of their waste daily comes from this). To manage such a huge amount, they use a machine that compresses the cardboard into bales. Not only does the compression process reduce the space that affects their transportation, but this process also makes it easier for their waste vendor to reuse this cardboard to make new products (brown paper bags are some). “It’s really zero-waste to landfill,” she said. Ms. Lat also cited repackaging returned or display items so that they can be bought, and used again, at reduced prices.

The company also has a partnership with electric vehicle company, Mober, moving Ikea’s 2025 33% target for electric vehicle-facilitated deliveries forward by 7.7%. In the workplace and in the store, they’ve achieved 100% conversion to energy-saving LED lighting. In the workplace, some of their lights are sensor-operated, meaning the lights go off once the room has emptied (thus saving energy). As for its restaurant operations, Ikea cites that they have recorded a 70% reduction in food waste compared to last year. They’re moving towards a goal of having 50% of the meals served at the restaurant be plant-based by 2025 (which is why the menu during the press conference included plant-based “tuna” and “meatballs”).

A LIVING WAGESustainability, as a general rule, should include not only protecting the planet but also its people. According to Ikea Philippines Country HR Manager Weng Manalaysay. they aim for a 50-50 ratio between male and female workers, and at present, they enjoy a 49% women-to-men ratio. She also says that they have a permanent (not contractual) hiring policy, with workers employed on full-time or part-time basis. “We also try to… pay based on a living wage, not minimum-wage,” she said.

All of these makes sustainability sound like a very expensive chore, but Ikea Country Fulfillment Operations Manager Jarek Lesniewski emphasizes, “It’s important to share that sustainability doesn’t have extra cost.

“Even in our operations, we have a lot of samples that cost less.”

EXPANSIONMeanwhile, Ikea Pasay City Store Manager Daniel Rivero tackled the rumors of their expansion plans. “This year, it’s very difficult to say. When we talk about the size of our stores, and what we want to do, it takes time. It takes years,” he explained, pointing out that the lone (so far) store itself took five years to develop before it opened in 2021, from an initial planning stage kicked off in 2016. “What we are evaluating right now are different locations. I believe we would define (that) this year. Where is the location we want?”

He continued, “There have been rumors about Megamall. We will not deny that we are also working (with them). (However), we work in parallels which is different. The Philippines is quite big; many islands. We need to evaluate what is good and how we can do it.

“I cannot say we can open this year.”

What they are expanding are their operations in Iloilo and Davao through more efficient trucking systems, beginning on Jan. 15. Prior to this, customers in those regions were only able to buy items from Ikea’s online store that could be sent through parcel delivery, limiting purchases to smaller items. Through this innovation, those cities and their surrounding areas will be able to purchase Ikea’s entire catalogue including larger items like sofas and cabinets. Cagayan de Oro will follow suit on Feb. 1.

Patrick Marcelo, PR and Marketing Manager for Ikea said, “Right now, our focus in terms of expansion is really the online store… to really expand the reach of Ikea in the Philippines as whole.” — JL Garcia