Project Introduction: IKEA is a Swedish-Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. It was started by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943. IKEA has been the world's largest furniture retailer since 2008. It has a revenue of over 29 billion euros, 457 stores in 62 markets, and 9500 product types. IKEA designs, manufactures, and supplies quality furniture at low prices to make it accessible to most people. The furniture products are designed to be sleek and minimalist and manufactured to be easy to assemble and maintain. The first IKEA store was opened in 1958 in Almhult, Sweden. Currently, Germany has the most IKEA stores in the world. In addition, the biggest IKEA store is Pasay City, Philippines and its main headquarter is Delft, Netherlands. The retail business is organized in a franchise system with 12 franchisees in 62 markets which has continuously improved and developed the brand. Today IKEA has grown into a global business providing employment to more than 225000 people globally. Each co-worker brings their unique ideas and talent to work every day and they are rewarded for their hard work. Any person working at IKEA has a value and the opportunity to develop their potential. Most importantly, IKEA provides training programs and leadership opportunities for staff. Besides, they have a strong set of values and culture which guides them to become of the best across the globe. IKEA has its sustainability strategy and is committed to do their part to tackle climate change, unsustainable consumption, and inequality. They have focused on three major areas i.e., healthy & sustainable living, Circular and climate positive and Fair & Equal. IKEA is transforming the entire way of working within the IKEA value chain from a linear to a circular business which resembles designing all products from the beginning to be repurposed, repaired, reused, resold, and recycled, generating as little waste as possible. One great success story of IKEA is their new sofa which now just uses 13 assembly parts instead of 122. This reduced water and energy usage significantly and requires much smaller packaging. The second one is MISTELN water nozzle. The invention of this product can dramatically reduce home water usage by up to 90% and can be applied to every standard tap. Finally, what IKEA has done more to become sustainable is that single-plastic products will be phased out completely from all IKEA stores worldwide that includes straws, plates, freezer bags and more. A sustainable company inspires and enables more than 1 billion people to live a better everyday life within the boundaries of the planet. It enables to become circular and climate positive and generate resources while growing the business. Most importantly, companies can play full part in contributing to a fair and equal society by respecting human right, create a positive impact for people across their value chain and contribute to resilientsocietie.

Project Description (No more than 2 pages)

Provide a high-level description of your proposed project to include:

1. Project Description: What NEW initiative are you proposing your company undertake? This can be entirely new or expand on an existing project.
2. Project objectives: What do you wish to accomplish by undertaking this project? Which SDG(s) does the project address? (Ensure to link the proposed project with the relevant SDGs)
3. Project Scope:Does the project apply to the entire company/all departments/all product lines/all services, or some subset, such as one location, one department or a unique product line or service?
4. Project Timeline: How long will each phase take, and how long will the entire project take?What are the different segments or phases of the project?

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