Ikea’s Checkered Past & Present

Mostly everyone has owned some piece of furniture for Swedish furniture conglomerate IKEA. We have all at one moment or another against all our better judgment purchased dressers for $170 knowing damn well we will be up for 6 hours trying to build it, only to be left with a rickety, lopsided piece in our college dorm room. It was almost a right of passage. But few know the controversial dealings of the company. From illegally sourced furniture, to labor camps, to questionable finances; the story of Ikea is juicier than the fall of the Roman empire. Here are some of the biggest and most deplorable marks on Ikea’s record.

IKEA and the destruction of Forests

Romania is home to some of the world’s oldest and largest forests and few know that Ikea is one of Romania’s largest land owners. However, Ikea's quest for timber is harming some of Romania's ancient forests, according to The New Republic. Ikea has long touted its positive environmental record and sustainability, and told Insider "under no circumstances does IKEA accept illegally logged wood." Since 2007, Romania has lost between half and two-thirds of its virgin forest. What is illegal logging exactly? Illegal logging is the harvesting of timber in contravention of the laws and regulations of the country of harvest. It is a global problem with significant negative economic, environmental and social impact. Illegal logging. results in lost revenues and other benefits.

Research has reported that to date Ikea has purchased illegally logged wood from both Romania and Russia. What is the most disturbing is Ikea’s consumer facing commitment to sustainability. Today, Ikea claims that their main focus as a brand is Sustainability – caring for people and the planet. Ikea states on their current website, “to meet the challenges of unsustainable consumption, climate change and growing inequality, we are taking ambitious steps towards a more sustainable future through collaboration with partners, co-workers and customers.” On February 22, 2022, Ikea stated that,

“under no circumstances do we use illegally logged wood.”

IKEA and Labor Camps

Belarus

According to new reports from a French investigative non profit, IKEA furniture was allegedly produced by prisoners in Belarus penal colonies under forced labor conditions. These were not some run of the mill labor camp– investigative reporting claimed that the workers of these camps where tortured by food and healthcare deprivation. In June of 2022, Ikea released a statement

“We are clear across all markets where we are present that human rights abuses have no place in our business…In June 2021, we decided to stop all new business development due to the human rights challenges in Belarus and the unpredictable environment,”

IKEA said, adding the war in Ukraine accelerated its June 2022 decision to leave Belarus and terminate all its contracts with suppliers there.

Berlin

In 2012 Ernest Young reported that knowingly benefited from forced labor in the former East Germany to manufacture some of its products in the 1980s. Ikea had commissioned the report in May as a result of accusations that both political and criminal prisoners were involved in making components of Ikea furniture and that some Ikea employees knew about it. Shortly after, an Ikea representative confirmed their involvement and informed the public what safety measures they hoped to put in place like regular audits of the working conditions, however admitted that their efforts “were not sufficient.” Dealings with these labor camps dated back 20 to 30 years.

Ikea Killer Dressers

In the last decade Ikea dressers have been linked to at least 9 deaths of children as a result of dressers tipping over and smothering small children. In 2020, Ikea paid 46 Million dollars in a settlement to a California family whose toddler was killed by a tip over accident in 2017. Also in 2016 Ikea paid 3 families a combined 50 million dollars in a similar law suite. In 2016 Ikea recalled the Malm dresser, equivalent to 17.3 million units. As a result of the recall Ikea offers full refunds on the furniture pieces or a free anchoring kit to anchor the back of the dresser to the wall to avoid fall downs.

A small step to try to alleviate concerns of loved ones who have purchased furniture from the brand. Parents are still outraged over Ikea’s lack of due diligence when knowing that these furniture pieces were potentially harmful. Essentially putting the owness on the purchaser of the furniture to make it ready safe for homes. To put this in perspective a child dies, on average, once every two weeks when a piece of furniture, television or appliance falls forward on them, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

With this information maybe we all need to take a step back and really understand the high price of fast furniture brands next time we consider purchasing a dresser for $150.

​Check Out the Netflix Documentary "Broken" on the IKEA controversy. Out now.

Source: Business In Human Rights Org, New York Times, USA Today