Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer, announced a growth capital injection in China-based recycler of post-consumer packaging waste Re-mall.

The investment marks Ingka Investments’ first in China within its circular investment portfolio, which targets companies developing technology or capacity to prevent waste or supply recycled materials.

Ingka Group launched Circular Investments in 2017, to support IKEA’s circularity strategies by investing in companies developing technology or growing capacity to prevent waste or supply recycled materials, with a key focus on materials where recycling capacity is lacking, including mattresses, plastics, textiles, wood, and food.

The new investment follows plans announced by Ingka earlier this year to invest €1 billion in companies enabling growth in recycling infrastructure, with a focus on businesses that promote mass circularity, in order to increase the availability of recycled materials on the market, while avoiding millions of tonnes of CO2.

Pontus Erntell, President and Chief Sustainability Officer at IKEA China, said:

“This investment by Ingka Investments demonstrates our long-term commitment in China. To meet our customers’ needs for generations to come, we have both the responsibility and the opportunity to take a lead in accelerating the circular economy beyond IKEA, and the scale and innovation capabilities here in the Chinese market create significant opportunities for this transformation.”

Shanghai-based Re-mall aims to overcome challenges faced by the plastic recycling industry, such as quality degradation over multiple recycling cycles and contamination from food residues and labels, by employing proprietary techniques to produce transparent recycled polypropylene (rPP) for use in new products.

According to Ingka, Re-mall is recognized in China for producing premium-grade post-consumer rPP and is one of the only global suppliers producing highly transparent pellets from post-consumer food packaging waste at scale. These materials are used in products such as storage boxes, containers, tableware, toys, cosmetics packaging, and woven textile goods, including for blue-chip companies.

Lukas Visser, Head of Circular Investments at Ingka Group, said:

“Re-mall’s strong supplier network and partnerships with leading Chinese food delivery service providers are already allowing them to create impact at scale for the local recycling market. By investing in Re-mall, we want to amplify this impact to help address a global plastic waste problem and contribute to the circular economy transition.”

The funding is expected to help expand Re-mall’s recycling capacity and develop new products.

ZHU Kuan, CEO of Re-Mall, said:

“This collaboration marks a significant milestone in our journey to scale sustainable solutions globally. Together, we aim to transform plastic waste into valuable resources, contributing to a cleaner planet and a more responsible future.”