IKEA: How Ingka Group is Building a Sustainable Supply Chain

For a business of its scale, Ingka Group, IKEA’s largest retailer, has set sustainability targets that could necessitate a fundamental transformation of its global supply chain.

Ingka Group is aiming to halve its emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050. This involves changes spanning from sourcing and logistics to energy consumption and waste management.

Progress has been noted, with Ingka Group reporting a 30% reduction in its total climate footprint against a 2016 baseline.

Karen Pflug, Chief Sustainability Officer at Ingka Group, says: “Not knowing where to start is often the biggest barrier to action.

“The doom, the gloom, the planet-sized problems, can feel overwhelming, even paralysing. That’s why we believe that with the size and reach of the IKEA brand, we have both a responsibility and an opportunity to communicate sustainability in a way that inspires and enables people to take action.” 

Decarbonising the logistics network

A core component of Ingka Group’s strategy involves decarbonising its logistics and distribution channels.

Ingka Group’s targets, which have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, include a detailed plan to achieve more than 90% of home deliveries using zero-emission vehicles by the year 2028.

This could represent a major overhaul of its last-mile delivery infrastructure – a critical customer-facing part of the supply chain.

The move forms part of a wider transition to phase out fossil fuels across its entire value chain, aligning with its 1.5°C pathway.

Investing in a circular supply chain

Ingka Group is also working to re-engineer its supply chain to be more circular, moving beyond traditional linear models of 'take-make-dispose' and treating circularity as a system-wide change.

Second-hand areas are now integrated into 365 stores and second-hand items can be bought online in 338 stores. This retail initiative is supported by a reverse logistics programme.

According to data from FY24, Ingka Group repurchased more than 495,000 used items from around 260,400 customers, reintegrating these products back into its retail ecosystem.

To support this, Ingka Investments has a dedicated circular investments platform with an ambition to invest around €1bn (US$1.17bn) to grow recycling infrastructure for materials like plastics, textiles, wood and mattresses. This is complemented by a goal to recycle 100% of waste generated in its own operations by 2030.

Powering operations with renewable energy

Underpinning these logistical and circularity changes is a substantial investment in renewable energy, with the idea that a sustainable supply chain must be supported by sustainable power.

Through Ingka Investments, the group says it will have invested or committed to invest €7.5bn (US$8.8bn) into the renewable energy sector by 2030, creating tangible assets to power its extensive operations.

As of January 2025, Ingka has invested in 49 wind farms in 17 countries and 26 solar parks in nine nations. This growing portfolio of renewable energy assets is part of its strategy to achieve 100% renewable energy use across electricity, heating, cooling and fuels by 2030.

Ingka Group uses its position to advocate for wider systemic change.

In its Net Zero Transition Plan published in February 2025, Ingka called for climate plans to be aligned with 1.5°C and a phase-out of fossil fuels.

Speaking ahead of COP28 in 2023, Karen noted the importance of immediate action. “What we do now will shape what lies ahead of us and we can’t leave this to the next generation to fix. We know that climate action is good for business now and in the future.”

Ingka is framing sustainability as a business strategy for building a more resilient and efficient future supply chain.