IKEA Belfast has announced today that it has joined forces with a local social enterprise company to help provide families in need with recycled furniture.
The Holywood Exchange store has partnered with Ulster Supported Employment Ltd. (Usel), which aims to create employment and provide furniture to people living in poverty across Northern Ireland. The company will refurbish or recycle used products as a new partner to the retailer’s ‘Furniture Take Back’ service.
This service enables IKEA customers to recycle an existing item of furniture once they’ve replaced it with a new one. The used item will be collected and given to the new local partner, who will refurbish and re-home the product with a family in need.
Christie Gregg, Store Manager at IKEA Belfast says; “IKEA’s vision is to create a better everyday life for many people and we’re delighted to partner with Usel to help provide furniture for families in need.
“Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at IKEA and our ‘Furniture Take Back’ service is a way of enabling customers to either recycle their products responsibly or ensure they find a new home.”
Bill Atkinson, Usel CEO added; “IKEA Belfast wanted a partner to get value out of the materials, either refurbished, upcycled or recycled. In the first few weeks of the project we have collected a significant amount of furniture from IKEA, all of which has been reused or gifted out to those in need.”
Usel has also been able to create two full-time jobs from the contract with IKEA Belfast. Scott continued; “We expect demand for the service to grow considerably, and Usel will be able to create more jobs and more social value from the partnership, all the while having less materials going to landfill.”
To find out more about IKEA’s Furniture Take Back service click here. For more information about Usel, visit www.usel.co.uk.
