The Social Challenge and Reasons for Initiating the Project

The urgency of the social problem

In Russia, urban population generates up to 300 kg of waste per person a year, 15% (45 kg) of which is textile. In 2018, about 65 million linen items were sold in Russia (IndexBox.ru), which is approximately 39,000 tons of textile. Yet Russia does almost nothing to recycle (or reuse) discarded textile.

The waste issue is gaining urgency in Russia. While in 2016, 57% of the people said they would be willing to sort waste as long as necessary infrastructure is available (Levada), in 2018 their number has grown and reached 92% (FOM).

External reasons for initiating the program

The project contributes to the following sustainable development goals:

• Goal 12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns) – by promoting the circular economy concept and offering the customers a practical service.
• Goal 9 (Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation) – by helping create recycling infrastructure.
• Goal 17 (Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development) – by partnering up with the Second Wind Foundation, which creates jobs for vulnerable categories of people, raises awareness and advances best practices.

Internal reasons for initiating the program

IKEA’s mission is to change the daily lives of many people around the globe for the better. This mission drives its sustainability strategy, People & Planet Positive. The Company cares about the environment and helps its customers, engaging them in its efforts to keep the planet healthy.

Project Description

Prompted by the social challenge and guided by the Company’s strategy, IKEA Russia partnered up with the Second Wind Foundation and launched the Linen Cycle campaign in its stores. Customers were encouraged to bring their old linens (later also curtains, tablecloths, napkins, decorative pillow cases, towels and bathrobes).

Any person could bring old linens to a collection point at a store, getting a 15% off coupon on their next linen purchase.

The old linens were sorted at the Second Wind Foundation. Linens in good condition were thoroughly washed and distributed among the needy people. Un-reusable linens were converted into wiping cloths (rags) for factories, print shops, laboratories and car repair shops.

The project also has an important social aspect: the Second Wind Foundation hires people from vulnerable groups to sort linens, providing them with a decent job and stable income.

Project stages:

• September 2017 – December 2017: Preparations. Our idea was to create a circular project, and we decided to focus on textile. Out of all the NGOs in Russia, Second Wind was practically the only one doing something like that. The Foundation agreed to become our partner on this project. For the Foundation, this project was an opportunity to gain experience of working with a major international company with high standards and to develop a new exclusive are of expertise. To bring the Foundation in line with IKEA standards, a lot of work was done to prepare it for an IWAY audit, which involves numerous requirements related to the environment, social policies and labor conditions: environmental compliance, fire safety, workplace safety, labor rights, etc. Also, the Foundation had to learn to recycle linens and increase its processing capacity, which resulted in opening an additional warehouse and creating more jobs.
• December 2017 – March 2018: Pilot project. IKEA Belaya Dacha was picked as a pilot store. The goal was to see how much the customers would be interested in such a project and how much textile Second Wind would be able to process. The results demonstrated that the project was successful.
• June 2018 – August 2018: Old linens are received in exchange for a 15% off coupon for the next linens purchase. Coupons were offered for three months to promote the project. The project was launched at all the IKEA stores. The project attracted 35,000 people, collecting and recycling 38,000 kg of linens.
• September 2018 – February 2019: The project continues without coupons.
• February 2019 till now: The list of collected items is expanded. At the planning stage we said that if the project is successful, we can consider expanding the list. Currently, customers can bring their old linens, curtains, tablecloths, napkins, towels and bathrobes. Also, IKEA is helping the Foundation to enhance its environmental reporting.

Team and Partners

Partners:

The Second Wind Foundation is IKEA’s primary partner on this project. Second Wind is the largest NGO in Russia collecting, sorting, redistributing and recycling used clothes. The Foundation’s programs are designed to help vulnerable groups of people – low-income families, homeless people, orphanage graduates, people with disabilities, etc. – by offering them jobs and helping with their personal needs. In 2018, 306.6 tons of clothes were collected. Over 100 collection points were opened in Moscow, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Rostov Veliky and Kazan. Clothes are distributed in 12 provinces of Russia through local social services and charities. The Foundation has been operating since 2014.

The Company chose the Foundation as a partner because it was ready to start a project which had no precedents in Russia despite uncertainty and to bring in its expertise in dealing with textile. Also, the Foundation’s values are close to those of IKEA, and the Foundation was willing to evolve and adapt together with IKEA on this project. In order for the Foundation to comply with international corporate standards, the Company’s employees performed the following work:

• Preparation for the IWAY audit:
  • Environmental compliance
  • Fire safety
  • Workplace safety
  • Labor rights
• Consultations on environmental legislation

Also, the project enabled the Foundation to launch a new exclusive area of work – recycling linens – and significantly increase the volume of its operations. The project was one of the factors for opening an additional warehouse and creating new jobs.

Resources

Financial resources

The project did not have a separate budget. Marketing and Logistics incurred minor additional expenses. Marketing expenses included printing leaflet circulated at IKEA stores, MEGA malls, publications in National Geographics in June and August 2018, editing videos and hosting a special event, Eco Quest, for media and bloggers in six IKEA stores on June 5, 2018. Logistics expenses included an increased number of pallets transported to the Distribution Center; trucks travel between stores and the Distribution Center anyway. Cooperation with the Foundation does not involve monetary compensation. Linens are transferred to the Foundation as a donation.

Human resources

In addition to the administrative (office) part of the Second Wind team, which was involved in communications with IKEA (director, partnership manager, managing director, CFO), the project involved the warehouse and logistics manager, hired drivers to deliver textile from the Yesipovo Distribution Center to Foundation warehouses, head of recycling, sorters (2-4 workers depending on the amount), wholesale sales representative and Foundation partners involved in manufacturing the finished product and selling it on the market. (The Foundation was in charge of sorting and preparation of semi-finished materials, while partners used them to produce wiping cloth and sold it to their customers.) Charity distribution work included two managers and four sorters. If we include loading/unloading personnel at the two warehouses (in Moscow and in Kostroma), this would give us 4-8 people more.

Technological and material resources

We don’t use any sophisticated technology. Linens were collected into bags and sorted by hand. Accessories (buttons, zippers, etc.) were removed by hand – or left in place if it wasn’t a problem for the partner manufacturing the finished product. In other words, material resources were limited to bags, strings, scissors, pallets, tables, a pallet stacker, pallet jacks and rented trucks. In addition to existing warehouses, another 330 sq.m warehouse has been rented.

Achieved results

Immediate results

The results exceeded all expectations:

• Over 35,000 people joined the campaign (based on the number of coupons issued; the actual number of participants was even greater), and 87% of them made a purchase at IKEA.
• About 38,000 kg of old linens was collected.
  • 99.5% of collected linens was reused:
  • 15% of collected linens was fixed and handed over to the people in need.
  • 84.5% of collected linens was used to make wiping cloth (rags).
  • Only 0.5% of collected linens went to waste.
• The project got a lot of attention from both professional and entertainment media outlets, with publications in National Geographic, COSMO, Psychologies, Elle Decoration, Yoga, etc. Bloggers, too, commented on the project
• The project received a number of awards: Effie Awards Positive Change Russia, the Plus One Award in Environment Partnership.
• The campaign helped the Second Wind Foundation acquire the experience of working with a major international company. Second Wind staff got a chance to learn about the best practices and become more professional. The foundation gained recognition, which will help it attract new businesses as partners, especially since the IKEA brand is trusted in the professional community and partnership with IKEA helps attract new partners. IWAY auditors helped improve internal processes (fire safety, labor safety, environmental and labor law compliance) and provided consulting services on environment laws. Also, as a result of the project, a new warehouse opened and new jobs were created.

Internal evaluation

The project was evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Number of people involved in the project
• Amount of linens collected for recycling
• Media coverage
• Influence on the professional community
• Influence on IKEA staff
• Opportunities for the Second Wind Foundation

We did a lot of work within the Company, engaging people at different levels and from different divisions. According to the internal I Share poll, sustainability is currently one of the top three items IKEA employees are proud of.

External evaluation

We did not perform a full-scale external evaluation. Yet the project received the Effie Award in the Positive Change/Environment and Sustainability category.

Feedback from beneficiaries:

Special Features and Best Practices

Linens turned out to be very easy to handle (especially compared to clothes, which have a lot of buttons and other accessories). If you can get a steady inflow of linens, this project will generate revenue and at the same time deliver a sizable social effect. Our experience shows that under the existing model the Foundation has the capacity to process up to 5 tons of linens a week without any additional resources.

Plans for the Future

We plan to continue the project, further expanding the list of items we collect for recycling and broadening our cooperation with the Second Wind Foundation. In addition, the Company is looking into the possibility of using recycled textile in IKEA products.

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