Ikea bans incandescent light bulbs

The Adelaide and Perth Ikea stores recently removed all incandescent light bulbs from their shelves, becoming the first of the retail giant’s stores in the world to remove them from their lighting product range as part of a global phase-out.

The global phase-out will see only energy-efficient bulbs sold at IKEA with Australian stores well ahead of the November 2009 deadline set by the federal government.

The Australian government has moved forward an import ban on incandescent light bulbs to November 2008 with retailers given a further 12 months before a retail ban comes into effect — a move thought to cut greenhouse gases by a further 4 million tonnes.

Ikea Adelaide store manager Agneta Simon said: “Ikea Adelaide will now offer customers an extensive choice of energy-efficient light bulbs including compact fluorescents, halogens, LEDs, reflectors and dimmers.

“In Adelaide, if just one incandescent bulb per household is changed over to an energy-efficient one, it will save approximately 30,454 tonnes of carbon per year from entering the atmosphere.”

To support the sale of compact fluorescent bulbs, Ikea Adelaide has partnered with CMA EcoCycle, a specialist recycler of mercury-containing wastes, to introduce an in-store recycling station, where used, old bulbs can be disposed of safely. The stations will also allow customers to recycle compact fluorescent bulbs and fluorescent tubes.