Guest: Laura Tondi – Country Sustainability Manager @ IKEA Italia
ENGLISH VERSION
Ms. Tondi together with ESG Journal team
When it comes to sustainable transition, few companies embody change with the same level of concreteness as IKEA. A global, popular, accessible brand, but also one of the most ambitious in rethinking its entire value chain through a circular lens. Giving voice to this commitment is Laura Tondi, Country Sustainability Manager at IKEA Italy, who every day faces a complex challenge: transforming a giant with millions of visitors into an actor capable of leading, rather than simply following, the shift ahead.
In recent years, IKEA has demonstrated that sustainability and growth are not opposing forces. Since 2016, the business has grown by 23% globally, while emissions have fallen by 30%. A result that reflects a clear strategy: moving from a linear model to a circular one, reducing climate impact across all production stages. The ultimate goal? Achieving by 2030 the exclusive use of renewable or recycled materials, supported by a deep redesign of products starting from the eco-design phase: modularity, repairability, efficient recycling, and material reduction. Tondi explains that this approach is not new, but perfectly aligned with IKEA’s culture: “There are five elements that have always been at the heart of our Democratic Design: form, functionality, quality, price, and sustainability.”
The change is measured not only internally, but also outside the stores. In 2023, IKEA introduced around 178 electric delivery vehicles in Milan and Rome — now undergoing significant expansion across the country — and installed 250 fast-charging stations across its Italian stores. At the same time, the Company globally has committed €7.5 billion in renewable energy investments, including solar and wind, by 2030. Certainly, an economically challenging choice, and often not yet profitable, but essential to generate a market-wide ripple effect: “If a player of our scale moves in one direction, it inevitably influences the external context,” Tondi notes.
Despite these ambitious targets, Tondi does not hide the challenges behind circularity. She illustrates them with a compelling example: the recycling of products such as mattresses or textiles, highlighting how it remains difficult to find adequate ecosystems and infrastructures capable of large-scale recycling of these complex materials. Today, end-of-life remains one of the most delicate phases of a product’s lifecycle. Building stable and traceable supply chains requires time, investment, and a clear regulatory framework. For this reason, collaboration with suppliers is crucial. IKEA applies one of the strictest codes of conduct in the industry, IWAY, based on a precise principle: rigor, but with a collaborative approach. When a supplier is not aligned, a recovery plan is developed together. Only when this plan is not meticulously followed, IKEA choose to discontinue the partnership.
This logic of integration and shared responsibility also guides internal governance. At IKEA, sustainability is not an isolated department separated from the rest of the business; instead, it flows across the entire organization. The Country CEO is directly accountable for ESG objectives, managers have sustainability-related KPIs, and each store has its own dedicated sustainability lead. This model allows Tondi and her team to work with a wide variety of functions, from risk to commercial, logistics to communication, moving beyond the old concept of CSR as an accessory or marginal activity. “Sustainability cannot be just the cherry on top; it must be included in decision-making from the very beginning,” she says.
In this context, another pillar of IKEA’s strategy comes into play: the second-hand market. Italy is among the most mature countries in Europe in this sector, with a value of €27 billion, €2.7 billion of which relates to furniture. All IKEA stores in Italy host a Circular Hub: an area where slightly damaged items, showroom pieces, or products returned by customers through the Buy Back & Resell service can be purchased and given a second life. In FY25, IKEA Italy sold 3.7 million second-hand products and bought back 63,000 customer-returned items that were then resold at accessible prices. Added to this is the Spare Parts service: a way to extend the lifespan of IKEA products and reduce waste, through the recovery of components from returns and items destined for disposal, reaching 85,000 last fiscal year. Moreover, IKEA is testing new models (pilots are underway in Spain and Norway) to help customers extend product life through reuse.
This is not only about extending product durability through reuse, repair, and modular design: it is also a strategic choice to reach new customer segments without compromising new product growth. Tondi puts it clearly: “Second-hand does not cannibalize, it complements. It does not replace, it adds new value streams.”
Alongside environmental impact, IKEA Italy is equally committed to social impact, working with associations and local institutions on projects that strengthen community resilience. Among the most significant is the initiative developed with AzzeroCO2, which combines social and environmental sustainability by installing solar panels in public housing buildings at no cost, accompanied by kits to improve household energy efficiency. This intervention not only lowers energy bills for vulnerable families, but also provides tools and knowledge to better manage resources. Tondi stresses the importance of measuring impact by considering two key dimensions: magnitude, the depth of the change, and duration, how long the benefit lasts. A temporary aid is useful, but it is the concrete improvement of living conditions that truly matters.
The final message is clear: sustainability cannot be an effort confined to IKEA alone. It is a journey that requires coordinated participation from companies, institutions, citizens, and communities. And it requires time — supply chains, innovation, and new behaviors do not emerge overnight. But the determination of the brand and the vision of leaders like Laura Tondi show that the transition can be not only possible, but deeply inclusive. “We are a brand for the many,” she concludes. “Our job is to make not only what we sell sustainable, but also the way people live.”