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Posted: August 11, 2025
Ingka Investments, the investment arm of IKEA’s parent company, has made its first circular economy investment in China by backing plastic recycler Re-mall. The move supports IKEA’s global push to scale recycling capacity and reduce waste, while helping transform post-consumer plastics into high-quality materials for everyday products.
Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group—the largest IKEA retailer—has announced a growth capital investment in Shanghai-based Re-mall, a recycler specializing in post-consumer packaging waste. This marks Ingka’s first circular economy investment in China, part of its broader portfolio designed to scale plastic recycling innovation and expand access to recycled materials worldwide. Re-mall’s proprietary technology produces premium, transparent recycled polypropylene (rPP) from food packaging waste, used in products ranging from storage containers to cosmetics packaging and textiles.
The investment builds on Ingka Group’s Circular Investments program, launched in 2017 to align with IKEA’s sustainability strategy. The program targets sectors where recycling capacity remains limited, such as plastics, textiles, wood, food, and mattresses. Earlier this year, Ingka committed €1 billion to companies growing recycling infrastructure and driving mass circularity, with the goal of avoiding millions of tonnes of CO2 emissions and meeting rising demand for sustainable materials.
Re-mall is already a recognized leader in China’s recycling sector, partnering with major food delivery platforms and addressing long-standing challenges like contamination and quality degradation in plastics. With Ingka’s backing, the company plans to expand its recycling capacity and develop new products. Leaders from both sides emphasized the potential global impact, with Re-mall’s CEO ZHU Kuan noting the milestone as a step toward transforming plastic waste into valuable resources and Ingka executives calling it a key contribution to the circular economy transition fueled by plastic recycling innovation.
