Ikea Pledges 100% Certified Sustainable Palm Oil

Ikea is the latest company to commit to using only sustainably sourced palm oil.

The company isn’t a major palm oil user but says palm oil can be found in the manufacturing of a small number of Ikea products, mainly in candles and as a food ingredient, and is also occasionally used in the Ikea supply chain to process rattan.

Ikea has set a goal to source 100 percent certified sustainable palm oil from segregated sources — certified palm oil that is physically separated from non-certified palm oil all the way from the certified mill to the end user — with the following timelines:

• By December 2015 all palm oil used in home furnishing products such as candles, or as a food ingredient, will either come from certified segregated sustainable sources or be replaced by more sustainable raw materials.
• By December 2015 global suppliers will provide a road-map to Ikea of how palm oil, sourced for use in Ikea products, will meet additional requirements, around deforestation and planting on peat, by December 2017.
• By December 2017 all palm oil used in home furnishing products such as candles, or as a globally sourced food ingredient, will comefrom sources verified as meeting Ikea additional requirements around deforestation and planting on peat, or be replaced by more sustainable raw materials.

The furniture giant says it will regularly report on its progress against these targets.

Ikea says it’s supportive of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and believes RSPO certification is the best tool available to achieve sector level change in the palm oil industry.

In separate progress reports published last week, Cargill said it’s on track to map 80 percent of its palm oil in key markets back to individual mills by the end of this year and 100 percent of all mills by December 2015, and Unilever said 100 percent of palm oil sourced for Unilever’s European foods business will be traceable and certified sustainable by the end of 2014.