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This is what we do to take responsibility for the forest

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2 We love wood!UN has declared 2011 the International Year of Forests to celebrate people’s

action to sustainably manage the world’s forests. In this spirit, we want to

show our love for wood, and what we do to take responsibility for the forests.

This material gives you an insight into how IKEA works with wood and

sustainability.

We want to create a better everyday life for more of the many people,

without increasing our negative effect on the planet.

Wood is the best building material 03

For the love of wood 04

Signed, sealed, delivered 05

A global partnership 06

Making a list, checking it twice 07

The wood detective 08

We love all parts of the tree 09

How to create more from less 10

What is the point of air in furniture? 12

Making the most of every tree 13

ConTEnTs

www.IKEA.se

3 Wood is the best building material

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DID YOU KNOW• The most important wood species for IKEA are pine, spruce, birch and beech. • The top five wood sourcing countries are Poland, Russia, China, Romania and Sweden.

Poäng armchair is made of birch wood, one the most used wood types in IKEA products.

We have been wood fans since the early 50’s. To be honest

– back then it was for economical reasons more than

environmental. Wood was a low cost and high quality material

that was perfect in our flat pack furniture world. And since

we hate wasting stuff, we love the fact that every piece of the

wood can be put to good use, all the way down to the sawdust.

Today, we know that wood is probably one of the best

building materials in the world. And for the world. A tree is

not only beautiful to look at, it absorbs CO2, it stores the sun’s

energy in carbohydrates and releases oxygen. And wood is

biodegradable, recyclable, highly sustainable and renewable.

But it’s also exciting, unpredictable and

beautiful!

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The designer Carina Bengs began

working with wood at the age of four.

now she has been designing for IKEA

for nearly 30 years and loves the fact

that wood lives, ages and pleases

customers.

One of Carina’s best-known products for

IKEA was her contribution to the HEMNES

range, timeless solid wooden furniture in

a traditional Scandinavian style.

“A wood product changes appearance

over time. Wood ages and wears

beautifully. It feels natural, unlike a

plastic or metal product,” says Carina

Bengs.

Carina’s grandfather was a carpenter,

and wood was a natural choice. She had

the opportunity to try out simple tools

as early as four. Wood is in her genes

and her favourite

material.

As a designer, she

loves wood as it can

be used in so many

ways.

“It can be hard or

soft, resistant, warm

or cold. All sorts of

qualities and shades.

HEMNES is made of

softwood – you can see from a distance

that its surface is alive. If we had used

hardwood, it would have had a modern,

harder look. It would have been a

completely different product.”

Carina has been working and designing

with wood for over 40 years, but she

never tires of it. Wood represents quality,

durability and cosiness.

Each piece of board is different, making

wood suitable for mass production. One

piece of furniture will still be different

from another.

“It’s a confidence booster when you as

a designer know the material, when you

know what you can do in mass production.

When you sense the limits and when you

challenge the production staff to take new

steps. You can always achieve another

solution, provoke a little and see what you

can produce.”

For the love of wood

Name: Carina BengsAge: 47Occupation: DesignerFavourite wood: Pine

Name: HEMnESAge: 2Occupation: ChestWood: Solid pine P

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Anders Hildeman is responsible for

ensuring that all the wood IKEA uses

comes from an approved source.

Each year IKEA uses 13 million cubic metres

of timber for products, printed matter and

packaging, which is equivalent to 325,000

fully loaded timber trucks. Bumper to bumper

these would stretch from Älmhult to Seoul.

“With size comes responsibility. Since

we’re big and operate in many

countries, we, through our demands,

can influence the global timber trade

in the countries where we source. In

this way we can contribute to better

forestry,” says Anders Hildeman.

All our suppliers are audited

regularly. In 2010 supply chain

audits showed that 97,1% of the

wood meets the IKEA minimum

requirements. For the remainder,

corrective plans are implemented.

Also, 24% comes from our

preferred sources, forests verified

as responsibly managed, meaning

that the wood is certified according

to the FSC - with the full supply

chain independently audited. By

2012, we’d like it to be 35%. It’s an

ambitious target because in many

parts of the world, the availability of

certified wood is limited.

“Sometimes we’re asked why it’s not more.

This is due to availability. Today only around 5

per cent of the world’s managed forest areas

are FSC certified. IKEA’s target is to have

seven times more FSC timber in our range in

two years’ time. It’s a very ambitious target,”

says Anders Hildeman.

Work is constantly in progress to improve

the systems so that no illegally logged timber

slips past. One safeguard that IKEA has is

its own industrial group Swedwood, in which

all units now are FSC certified. This provides

control over a large part of the supply chain.

But one thing is certain: an IKEA customer

can feel completely confident that careful

checks are carried out to ensure that the

wood in your favourite piece of furniture does

not come from deforested areas or has been

illegally logged.

“Forests are our most important source of

raw material. And sourcing responsibly means

that we have availability of this raw material

long-term. It also means that we meet our

customer’s expectations. They shouldn’t even

need to think about this.”

Responsible forestry

Name: Anders HildemanAge: 54Occupation: Forestry ManagerFavourite wood: Rowan

• Tropical and sub-tropical natural forests that are being converted into plantations or non-forest use.• officially recognised and geo-graphically identified commercial genetically modified (gM) tree plantations.

IKEA minimum requirements

for timber

Timber should not come from:

• Forests that have been illegally

logged.• Forestry operations involved in

forest-related social conflicts.

• Uncertified Intact natural For-

ests (InF) or High Conservation

Value Forests (HCVF).

6 A global partnershipIKEA and WWF work together in a global

partnership in order to strengthen and increase

actions to improve environmental conditions.

The co-operation, started in 2002, has so far

contributed to increasing the FSC-certified

forest area with millions of hectares in Russia,

China, Bulgaria and Romania. The partnership

has also resulted in identified forests with high

conservation values and helped to improve

forest legislation.

We cooperate in projects in important wood

sourcing regions such as Russia and China,

Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Lithuania, Bulgaria,

Romania and Ukraine.

The main focus within these projects are to

combat illegal logging, promote credible forest

certification and responsible timber trade as well

as to protect high conservation value forests.

DID YOU KNOW• IKEA is working together with WWF to increase the area of responsibly managed forests. •IKEA was one of the compa-nies that together with green-peace and WWF initiated and founded the Forest Steward-ship Council (FSC) in 1993.

7Each day the Polish

sawmill receives nearly

50 truckloads of timber.

Every single wood chip

comes from managed

forests. “I can practically

see where each log was

felled,” says Łukasz

Tymendorf, timber

manager at swedwood

Wielbark.

The little village of Wielbark

is located in the heart of

Poland. Swedwood’s – the

industrial group’s of IKEA –

giant sawmill and production

plant are also located there.

On average one truck arrives

at the plant every fifteen

minutes, fully loaded with

pine logs that will eventually

be made into the HEMNES

range. Łukasz Tymendorf is

the timber manager at the

plant and responsible as such

for the purchase, transport,

reception and sawing of the

logs. Consequently he is also

responsible for ensuring that

good-quality logs are sawn.

So how does he know

that the timber used in

IKEA products comes from

managed forests?

“It’s really quite simple,” he

says pointing to a plaque on

the office wall.

“We’re FSC certified,

in other words, we’re

approved by the independent

international member

organisation, the Forest

Stewardship Council. FSC

promotes environmentally

appropriate, socially

beneficial and economically

viable management of the

world’s forests. And I only

purchase timber from FSC

certified suppliers.

Łukasz has many suppliers

– yet only one: the Polish

state forest agency, divided

into regions and districts.

In reality he has 48

subcontractors to negotiate

with.

Nevertheless he is

sometimes contacted by

salesmen who can supply

prime quality at low prices. A

while back a salesman rang

from Ukraine and said: “I can

supply anything, how much

do you need?” Łukasz then

asked the salesman for proof

that the logs had passed a

radioactivity test.

“The wrecked Chernobyl

nuclear power plant is

situated in Ukraine. The

surrounding forests are

perfect for logging, but it’s

prohibited to touch them.

They’re still radioactive.”

“Oh, you don’t need proof,”

said the salesman. “Then we

don’t need your timber,” was

Łukasz’ simple answer.

Making a list, checking it twice

“Each driver arriving here has a receipt like this. The receipt lists each log on the truck with a number. The same number is then found on a small plastic label on the log. This means I can see exactly where the load comes from. I can practically drive out to the logging site and see where the tree stood.”

Łukasz Tymendorf, timber manager at Swedwood Wielbark.

8 The wood detectiveTai Wen is one of the 16

“forest detectives” working

for IKEA. Her job is to visit

remote areas in China to

trace the wood used in IKEA

furniture or products – to

ensure that it has not been

illegally or irresponsibly

logged. This is her own story

of a week at work.

“The week starts off with an

important meeting with WWF.

So far, the IKEA and WWF

partnership has contributed to

that over one million hectares

of forest have been FSC

certified in China.

The following day we leave the

city behind us. The availability

of timber in some of China’s

north-eastern natural forests

has been declining for some

time. To turn this around, we

need to work continuously with

local organisations to increase

the number of responsibly

managed forests and make

sure all the wood used in our

products meets our minimum

requirements.

We start the audit at the

supplier by explaining the

purpose of our visit. Our job is

not only about checking, but

also about showing the supplier

how to check the wood himself.

The supplier tells us he has

a problem. The IKEA timber

traceability system, in which he

reports the origin of the wood,

has told him that the wood

he wants to purchase comes

from a region where there are

animals and/or trees that are

valuable to the ecosystem. I

advise him to purchase the

wood from somewhere else.

When we get back to Qingdao

I meet with the purchaser

at IKEA. I explain to her the

problem the supplier brought

up. She says she cannot buy

the products if the wood comes

from that area, but promises

to contact our wood supply

team to see if there are any

other areas that are a suitable

alternative for the supplier.”

16 forEsTry

sPECIAlIsTs

IKEA has 16 employed

forestry specialists.

Their most important

tasks are to confirm the

origin of the wood, to

secure that it meets our

minimum requirements

and to increase the

amount of wood from

responsibly managed

forests. The IKEA

forestry organisation was

established in 1998 and

its activities today span

48 countries.Name: Tai WenAge: 29Occupation: Forestry specialistFavourite wood: oak

99nearly two-thirds of IKEA products

contain wood. Johan Ejdemo is

responsible for ensuring that the

material is used responsibly at the

best possible prices.

“Wood is a fantastic construction material.

You can use everything from fibre to solid

pieces. It can be shaped and bent and its

annual rings can tell you how it has lived

and grown.”

Johan Ejdemo’s job includes ensuring

that IKEA customers can buy good wood

products at good prices thanks to the

constant technical development at IKEA.

“We’re a company that uses all the parts

of the tree. Often it’s not the best parts

that make the most fantastic products,

but those that require the most love in the

making,” says Johan.

The furniture industry is

relatively conservative. Rules

have simply developed for what

is beautiful or ugly, good or bad.

IKEA always challenges these

rules and often chooses parts

whose beauty has not been

recognised. For example, IKEA

uses the red heartwood of the

birch tree, while other producers

may think that this material is

only good enough for pulp. NORDEN table

is made of birch tree crowns previously

ground into wood chips.

Technical inventions pave way for other

ways of saving resources. One technology

is Board on Frame, a chipboard frame

covered with thin fibreboard and filled with

paper spacing material, or just air.

“Filling the whole product with solid

material is wasteful and a misuse of

materials. In addition, we can make

furniture with thick boards, which it would

not be defensible to make from solid wood-

based boards.”

Today production waste is minimised

efficiently. But IKEA is constantly investing

in new materials and production methods

so as to use even less in the future,

at lower prices. Wood will always be

contemporary.

“It may be more or less

trendy, and different woods

may be more or less attractive

at different times. But man will

always have a need for nature.”

We love all parts of the tree

Name: Johan EjdemoAge: 41Occupation: Material and Technical Development ManagerFavourite wood: Pine

DID YOU KNOW• nearly two-thirds of IKEA products are made of wood.• Production waste is minimised efficiently, by constantly investing in new materials and production methods.

Pine.

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Products cannot be made without raw

materials. The more we consume,

the more raw materials we need. It is

therefore important to use materials in

a smart way, a way that is good for both

people and the environment. In the case

of IKEA, this means using more renewable,

recyclable or recycled materials.

With 60% of the purchase value on

the range being wood-based, we are

continuously looking at how to create more

from less with for example lightweight and

resource-efficient construction.

By working very closely together with

the industry, we can find solutions and

improvements that will use less material

and reduce the weight, but where the look

and feel of the surface will stay the same

as with solid material.

To use solid wood would in many

instances not only be too expensive but

it would also use up too much material

resources and the weight would be too

heavy for transport.

How to create more from less A few years ago, we were able to make 13 STUVA storage boxes from the wood of one tree. Today one tree is enough for 23 STUVA stor-age boxes. How did we do it? We replaced some wood with air.

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noRDEn dining table is a good example of how to create more from less. Introduced in 1998, it was prob-ably the first time anyone had thought of making furniture also from the knotty top part of the birch tree instead of burning it as firewood or grind-ing it for chipboard production.

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12 What is the point of air in furniture?• Get as much as possible from every tree.

• The lighter the furniture, the more can be

loaded on the pallets without them being too

heavy to handle.

• It also saves resources. Although timber

comes from forests which regenerate,

resources are used in transporting the timber

to the factory.

• Lighter boxes are easier for customers to

take home.

EXPEDIT is manufactured using Board on Frame technology. P

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Making the most of every treeWood is the most important raw material for IKEA

and it is used in many of our products, even if

you cannot always see it. And we hate to waste

resources. Have a look at these products, all

made with new technologies, to make the most of

every tree.

1.

1. STUVA products are manufactured using Board on Stiles technology.

2. The LACK product range is manufactured using Board on Frame technology.

3. EXPEDIT shelf, made with Board on Frame technology. 4. BESTÅ product range is manufactured using Board on

Stiles technology. 5. MICKE desk, made with Board on Frame technology.

4. 5.

3.2.

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WE LOVE WOODSo, there’s more to wood than trees. Dif-ferent ways of using the raw material. Using design, quality and function to create a low price with meaning. And everyone is a winner!

www.IKEA.se