Ikea, The Furniture Giant, Plans To Deal With The High Pollution Level In Some Indian Cities

Ikea has just come up with a new initiative to reduce the massive air pollution level of some Indian cities.

Some Indian cities are having an alarming level of pollution

The leading idea of this plan is for Ikea to use agricultural waste like rice straw as the input material for their furniture, which spares farmers from burning this agricultural residue.

The plan is called “Better Air Now” and it aims at lessening the amount of smoke belched from burnt straw, which contributes enormously to the level of pollution in the air.

The Swedish company, which just opened the first stores early this year in India, will buy the rice straw and use it as a renewable source for its products. The company has a high ambition for this initiative and does not intend to limit its effect to India. It wants to be a pioneer in using straw as a renewable source of material to reduce air pollution so that the world can follow.

Ikea - the Swedish furniture giant

Ikea has a high ambition for this initiative and does not intend to limit its effect to India. It wants to be a pioneer in using straw as a renewable source of material to reduce air pollution so that the world can follow.

This furniture giant has been preparing for the first prototypes to be built before the end of this year. The new products will be on the India market in 2020 before branching out to the rest of the world.

Better Air Now will take place in New Delhi, one of the world’s air pollution hubs. If the plan shows positive signs, it will be spread out to other regions of the country.

Ikea is joining hand with other companies, NGOs, and the authority so that the initiative can run smoothly.

This Swedish anti-pollution plan attacks directly the rice residue, whose smoke makes up about 33% of New Delhi pollution amount.

The contamination of air in India is believed to be the cause of about a million deaths each year.

WHO’s study also reveals that India has 9 out of 10 candidates on the list of the most polluted cities in the world.

Last year, the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute released another study that looked deep into this problem. What it found out is startling. The research stated that New Delhi residents can add 9 years to their average life expectancy if the city can reduce its pollution level down to WHO’s standard.

Better Air Now is not Ikea’s only measure for a more sustainable development. Another highlight is the ban on disposable plastics in all of its stores in the first few months this year.