IWAY is the IKEA way for responsibly procuring products, services, materials and components. It sets clear expectations and ways of working for environmental, social and working conditions, as well as animal welfare, and is mandatory for all suppliers and service providers that work with IKEA.
Our goal is to always have a positive impact on people, society and the planet by balancing economic growth with environmental protection and regeneration, as well as by providing decent and meaningful work. Our suppliers and value chain are a fundamental part in achieving this ambition.
Through IWAY we strive to create impact in 4 main areas:
IWAY is a total sustainability management system. It includes the IWAY Standard – the IKEA supplier code of conduct – and common ways of working for all IKEA organisations and our suppliers and service providers.
The IWAY Standard is built on 10 IWAY Principles, which reflect our ambitions and outline our expectations to our business partners. Each of the 10 principles is, in turn, supported by IWAY requirements.
IWAY requirements are based on a 4-step staircase model: Must, Basic, Advanced and Excellent. IWAY Must and IWAY Basic are the minimum requirements that need to be in place for all suppliers and service providers who do business with IKEA. Together with our business partners, our ambition is to continually improve and develop beyond the minimum, to reach IWAY Advanced and IWAY Excellent levels.
The IWAY Standard consists of the:
IWAY General Section which applies to all IKEA business partners, as well as additional IWAY Sections, which apply to the relevant suppliers, depending on their setup and operations to IKEA.
IWAY Accommodation Section which includes requirements to suppliers providing housing arrangements for their workers.
IWAY Animal Welfare Section which applies to all IKEA suppliers that deliver animal-based products to the IKEA business.
IWAY Digital Platform Work Section which contains additional requirements specific to digital platforms. These requirements are secured for platform workers that perform services for, or on behalf of, IKEA.
IWAY Forestry Section which contains requirements specific for wood-based materials.
IWAY Transport Section which applies to suppliers transporting IKEA products, services, components or materials in the IKEA value chain.