IKEA has launched a range of sustainable kitchen fronts called KUNGSBACKA which are made from recycled PET-bottles and wood.
PET
PET-bottles are made from the recyclable material polyethylene therephalate. In 2013, 56 million tonnes of PET were manufactured— a quarter of all plastics produced that year. But only 2.2 million tonnes were recycled. The majority thrown to landfill to clog and pollute the environment.
But IKEA have come up with a solution and have developed a kitchen that reuses this infamous material.
The kitchen
PET has been used to create the furniture giant’s latest kitchen range, the KUNGSBACKA. The PET bottles are recycled and used to replace virgin oil based plastic in the reclaimed wood kitchen fronts, creating a sustainable kitchen without compromising on quality, design or price.
Of the launch Anna Granath, product developer at IKEA said:
What we do at IKEA has a big impact on the environment due to the large quantities we produce so by using recycled materials, we can create products which are more environmentally-friendly and sustainable. Our ambition at IKEA is to increase the share of recycled materials in our products so we are looking into new ways to re-use materials, such as paper, fibre, foam and plastic, so that we can give them a new life in a new product.
David Vine, IKEA UK & Ireland Kitchens Business Leader, added:
At IKEA we are very conscious of the impact of waste, knowing that plastic bottles take up to 1,000 years to decompose and that 70% of all PET bottles end up in either landfill or worse in our seas and oceans, is of concern. Today, 90% of waste created in the kitchen is recycled but few think about the kitchen itself, we hope that the launch of this range will help people to think about the materials that are in their home furnishings and create a more sustainable home setting.
Future
This production method is set to be a big contributor to IKEA’s sustainability agenda. The KUNGSBACKA kitchen fronts launched in February 2017, initially in matte-look anthracite but with new colours expected in the months to come.
IKEA is also developing other ranges of eco-friendly products with the REINSVOLL wardrobe doors featuring recycled foil, set to launch in August 2017.
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