Ingka Group Invests €1 Billion To Boost Recycling Globally

Ingka Group has announced through its financial arm, Ingka Investments, an ambitious investment plan to allocate €1 billion in global recycling infrastructure with the aim of addressing the critical global resource crisis. With annual consumption of 75% more natural resources than what the planet can regenerate, coupled with less than 20% of waste recycled, the initiative underlines a pressing need for systemic change in resource management.

Peter van der Poel, Managing Director of Ingka Investments, characterized the investment as a vital element of the group's sustainability strategy. He said: "Our ambition to invest in growing recycling infrastructure for €1 billion is key for Ingka Group's overall strategy to go beyond our own operations. We want to make sure that valuable materials are recycled and reused in producing new products.

The portfolio of Ingka's Circular Investments has made quite great strides since it was established in 2017 in addressing key waste streams. These include plastics, mattresses, textiles, wood, and organic waste. This portfolio not only corresponds to Ingka Group's aim to lead the way in sustainability but also contributes to the fast-growing demand for recycled materials used in the manufacturing of new products, including IKEA, which is the group's largest retailer.

Turning Waste Streams into Resources

Circular Investments has already shown its potential for measurable impact. Through recycling 2.7 million tonnes of materials, the portfolio has avoided 9.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions since 2017. Among the companies that benefit from Ingka's investments is RetourMatras, a leading innovator in mattress recycling. The company processes up to 2.5 million mattresses annually across facilities in the Netherlands, England, and France. RetourMatras is a good example of how circular solutions can align economic and environmental goals by converting end-of-life mattresses into repoliol, a sustainable material used in IKEA products.

Another standout performer in the portfolio is Morssinkhof Rymoplast, a pioneer in post-consumer plastic recycling. With an annual capacity of 515,000 tonnes and operations across 11 facilities in Europe, the company has doubled its capacity in recent years and plans further expansion. Meanwhile, the Next Generation Group combines cutting-edge recycling technologies to address plastics and organic waste efficiently, highlighting the potential of innovative solutions in tackling global waste challenges.

Scaling Innovations for the Future

Ingka Group investment looks beyond increasing its recycling capacity toward enabling groundbreaking innovation in waste management. "To future-proof our business, we want to invest in financially and environmentally resilient companies. For us, that means investing in technology and capacity that prevent waste and supply recycled materials," stated Lukas Visser, Portfolio Manager for Circular Investments. This forward-looking approach focuses on the dual goals of economic viability and ecological sustainability, which are important for driving long-term change in resource utilization.

The group extends its investments further than plastics and mattresses to involve food waste, as well as textiles, aimed at closing the material loops of the company as well as saving resources. This way, scaling these innovations drives Ingka Group into inspiring a whole world to shift into a circular economy where waste would be minimized as well as continuing to reuse valuable materials.

The Role of Policy in Driving Change

While Ingka Group is making bold strides to spearhead the recycling infrastructure, it acknowledges that a stronger policy framework is needed to have a larger footprint. Van der Poel calls for legislation to favor recycling over other environmentally harmful practices like incineration and landfilling. He also indicates that Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes and eco-design regulations are stepping stones toward higher recycling rates and increased demand for recycled materials.

"Legislation should further push towards prioritizing recycling against incineration and landfilling to go even more further," he added. Extended Producer Responsibility schemes and regulations regarding eco-designs could make room for a bigger push in higher recycling rates and better demand for materials from the same recycling activities.

Policy call highlights governments', businesses', and stakeholders' needed cooperation to further develop recycling system resilience toward this increasingly pressing needs of an ascending world population.

Ingka Group's €1 billion recycling investment is a step towards the company's commitment to solving the global resource crisis through practical, scalable solutions. This initiative, focused on innovation, collaboration, and policy advocacy, marks a new benchmark for sustainability in the private sector. The group advances its environmental goals while creating economic opportunities by using its Circular Investments portfolio, showing that a circular economy is not just an ideal but a viable pathway for the future.

Ingka Group's bold steps are setting a blueprint in the face of dual challenges confronting the world of resource depletion and waste management.