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IKEA, a giant furniture company, has engaged in sustainability practices and reached substantial achievement. However, we found that there are several aspects of sustainability that IKEA can work to reduce ecological footprint and stay as a strong and unique leader in sustainability in the furniture industry. Our paper firstly reviews IKEA 's current sustainability practices, followed by the literature review on other furniture companies ' sustainable approaches of selecting and using raw materials. We found that IKEA could make sustainable transitions in materials to reduce their environmental impact and make strategic investments to maintain its leadership in industry. Solutions, implementation, and possible impediments are discussed.
INTRODUCTION
IKEA is a furniture company founded in Sweden in 1943, focusing on providing modem furniture at affordable prices for the everyday people. IKEA 's vision is "to create a better everyday life for the many people. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them." Founder Ingvar Kamprad wanted to reflect independence and long-term success in the ownership structure of IKEA. Beginning in 1982 IKEA has been owned by IKEA foundation in the Netherlands. IKEA only uses its profits for reinvestment, charitable purposes through the IKEA Foundation, or kept as financial reserve for future investments.
Following its vision, IKEA has exerted many efforts regarding sustainability, reducing its footprint on the environment. In 2011, IKEA appointed Steve Howard as its Chief Sustainability Officer, who was in charge of the company's sustainability strategy, aiming to better environmental and social performance while limiting the impact that IKEA's impacts had on the environment. Howard strongly believes that sustainability will be one of the main factors that shape society and business during this century (Miller, n.d.).
However, there is much room for IKEA to reduce its impact on the environment. As a member of the furniture industry, IKEA uses a tremendous amount of wood. As an industry giant, IKEA uses about 1% of the world's total wood (Kelly, 2012). IKEA's subsidiary company, Swedwood, handles the production of all of IKEA's wood-based furniture (IKEA Manufacturing Subsidiary, 2006). Currently, 61% of IKEA's wood is sustainably sourced, and although this may seem...