IKEA U.K. and Ireland to Ban Single-use Plastic Straws

IKEA announced on Tuesday that its retail stores and outlets based in the U.K. and Ireland are removing all single-use plastic straws. The move is part of the retailer’s global commitment to remove all single-use plastic products by 2020.

In addition, as part of its People and Planet Positive strategy commitments for 2030, IKEA aims to design all its products to generate as little waste as possible and make all of its products and packaging from renewable and recycled materials. IKEA noted it also strives to reduce its climate footprint by an average of 70 percent per product and to achieve zero-emission home deliveries by 2025.

Moving forward, more and more companies and groups are opting to ban single-use plastic straws and products. Here are some of the more recent examples:

IKEA has more:

The commitment applies to all UK and Ireland stores, including the recently opened IKEA Exeter store, all future IKEA outlets and IKEA online. The announcement is the first of many steps IKEA is taking towards its global commitment to remove all single-use plastic products by 2020.

IKEA’s sustainability commitments do not begin and end with the removal of all single-use plastic straws and today’s decision follows IKEA’s updated People and Planet Positive strategy, which sets the sustainability agenda and ambitions for the IKEA franchise system and value chain globally by 2030.

Hege Sæbjørnsen, country sustainability manager, IKEA UK and Ireland, said: “The world is changing at a rapid rate and bold, urgent actions are required to meet the sustainability challenges we are facing. Plastic pollution is one critical issue to urgently address for a more sustainable future and is something our customers and co-workers are actively passionate about. By responding and acting quickly to remove single-use plastic straws, we hope to fuel the energy behind this movement and empower people to see the hundreds of other small actions we can all take in our daily lives to have a positive impact on the precious world around us.”

Read the full report here.