IKEA to extend sales of second-hand furniture – ecological virtue signalling, or a hard-nosed business solution to developing a circular economy?
The principles of a “circular economy” seem undeniable, with an emerging consensus that repairing, reusing and recycling products, is better than sending single-use products to landfill.
Henley Business School's Professor Adrian Palmer says the principles of a “circular economy” seem undeniable, with an emerging consensus that repairing, reusing and recycling products, is better than sending single-use products to landfill. Many efforts by community-based groups have tried to put into practice the principles of circularity, but to have real impact, there needs to be serious take-up by business.
IKEA has recently started trialling its “IKEA preowned” platform to buy and sell used IKEA furniture. This follows the rollout in many IKEA UK stores of a scheme to buy back and resell second-hand IKEA furniture. Is this more green “window dressing” or a credible attempt to embed the transition from linear to circular supply chains into business models?
Read the full insight to learn the below:
-What's in it for IKEA?
-How can circularity incentivize consumers?
-Barriers for IKEA
-At the centre of a value creation network