Collaboration between academia and industry can lead to reduced climate impact

The FibRe NextGen, the competence centre’s PhD students and postdocs, is on a study trip to IKEA, who is both a strategic partner to Chalmers and a partner in FibRe. The purpose of the visit is to provide NextGen with an opportunity to see IKEA’s activities and to take part in and be inspired by their innovation work. NextGen has already had the chance to visit several of the partners in the centre, and it has been very appreciated each time.

Five pillars of design

IKEA's product development rests on five pillars: low price, form, quality, sustainability and function, where low price has been fundamental to everything they have done since Ingvar Kamprad founded the company. For innovation this is a great source of inspiration for creative solutions - to think outside the box. From the start, low price was almost synonymous with sustainability, our guide tells us, as you usually got the cheapest solution by using as little resources as possible and by reusing what already existed. However, this is no longer the case, which is why sustainability has become an increasingly important company cornerstone.

In the prototype shop, many ideas are tested at an early stage before they are further developed into final products, a process that may take up to ten years. They work with different methods such as 3D printing, textiles, wood, metal and paintwork, depending on what is to be tested. The Product Development Centre also has equipment for testing at a later stage, especially surface treatments such as various types of foiling and painting. Everything is done in several layers and there is a lot to gain in both cost and emissions. For example, for each layer of spray paint that can be replaced with a roller, the cost reduction is 2%, as you can paint thinner layers and reduce waste. This means less paint is used, resulting in a smaller carbon footprint.

Big effects even with small improvements

Given IKEA's significant global influence as a major employer with numerous partners and, most importantly, a huge customer base, the actions taken by the company carry substantial implications. And with their large scale, even the smallest reduction in economical or environmental cost, at any stage of the process, has a huge impact.

“FibRe's vision is to replace thermoplastic fossil-based plastics with cellulose-based ones. The fact that IKEA has large-scale production, using thermoplastic materials where lignocellulose could be a suitable replacement candidate, makes them an interesting partner in FibRe”, says Prof. Anette Larsson, Director for FibRe. In other words, there are great opportunities to reduce the climate footprint through reduced carbon dioxide emissions.

Mutual exchange

”It was a pleasure hosting the Nextgen Fiber researchers for a day" says Gediminas Markevicius, Material & Innovation Developer at IKEA of Sweden AB. "I believe it was a mutually interesting exchange. We have tried providing a glimpse into product and material development but have also learned ourselves from the discussions and the questions brought up by the researchers during the visit.”