With an eye on sustainable development and a firm grip on innovation, IKEA has announced its latest collection, MUSSELBLOMMA, which uses recycled plastic to create fabric. Scheduled to hit stores in Italy and Spain this autumn, the collection is made of recycled plastic, partly collected by Spanish fishermen in the Mediterranean Sea.

The products include a bag, two cushion covers and a tablecloth, and are designed by Spanish designer Inma Bermúdez, whose inspiration naturally was the ocean.

“I am very happy and proud to be part of this project. We people need to be conscious about the  amount of plastic waste in our oceans. It is a must that we all take responsibility, every day,” says Inma Bermúdez, adding, “We have created a simple and modern pattern with circles, squares and triangles combined with a shape that reminds us of a fish. The colours in the collection are borrowed from the sea, different greens and turquoise combined with coral that brings light and happiness to the pattern.”

The polyester fabric used in MUSSELBLOMMA is made from recycled plastic, including PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic waste caught in nets in the Mediterranean Sea and collected by Spanish fishermen. For every kilo of PET plastic waste that can be used to make the polyester fabric, another nine kilo of waste like other plastics, metal, rubber, glass and other materials is also taken out of the ocean. After the collection, the plastic is aggregated in containers onshore in ports, and is then cleaned, sorted, mechanically recycled and together with recycled PET bottles made into yarn and fabric. The whole supply chain for the products is located in Spain.

“IKEA wants to have a positive impact on the oceans, engage in projects to clean plastic pollutants from oceans and proactively prevent ocean plastic pollution. MUSSELBLOMMA is a step for IKEA to use ocean plastic in products and turn that into a raw material for the future,” says Caroline Reid, Sustainability Development Manager at IKEA Range & Supply.

We believe it’s a step in the right direction, and with big players getting serious about sustainability can only mean good things, both for the industry and the environment.