IKEA has strengthened controls over its wood supply chain in Romania as part of its approach to reducing illegal logging risks while continuing to source timber from the country. The company increases checks and controls in higher-risk sourcing markets rather than withdrawing from them, Ulf Johansson, head of raw materials at Inter IKEA Group, said on the latest episode of Screw It, a podcast from Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer.
Johansson has worked in wood supply and forestry for IKEA for 25 years. He started as a forestry manager in Southeast Asia in 2000 before moving into his current global role.
The company reviews suppliers' sourcing plans each year to verify where and how they obtain wood. All wood supplied to IKEA must be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
Suppliers must also comply with IKEA's mandatory IWAY MUST sourcing standard. If a supplier cannot demonstrate that its wood meets the requirements, IKEA blocks deliveries until compliance can be verified. Suppliers that repeatedly fail to meet the requirements are phased out of the supply chain.
IKEA does not source wood from some countries where it considers the risks too difficult to manage. In Romania, the company continues working with suppliers that are willing to improve their forestry practices. Johansson said he believes the forests IKEA manages and sources wood from in Romania are responsibly managed today.
Johansson said Romania harvests less than half of its annual forest growth, meaning more wood is added to the country's forests each year than is removed. By comparison, Sweden harvests close to 90% of its annual forest growth, with harvested areas replaced through planting or natural regeneration to keep harvest and regrowth broadly balanced over time.
He cautioned that harvest statistics should be assessed carefully because Romania previously had illegal logging that was not fully tracked or reported, creating what he described as a "dark figure" in the data. He added that similar underreporting still occurs in some countries.
The company also uses isotope analysis to verify wood origin. Laboratories can analyse a small sample taken from wood in finished furniture and compare it with reference databases to estimate where the tree grew. The reference databases include collections developed at Kew Gardens in London and in the United States.
IKEA has also worked with Kew Gardens to develop a DNA test for rattan. Around 500 species of rattan exist, many of which look almost identical even though some are common and others are threatened. The test identifies the species used in a product, allowing the company to distinguish threatened species from those that can be sourced.