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IKEA To Receive Evergreen Award

Release Date: 12/9/1998
Contact Information: Carolyn Gangmark
gangmark.carolyn@epa.gov
(206) 553-4072

December 9, 1998 - - - - - - - - - 98-64


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IKEA, the home furnishing store in Renton, Washington, has become the tenth Northwest company to earn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “Evergreen Award for Pollution Prevention. The award will be officially presented by Chuck Clarke, EPA’s Region 10 Administrator at the IKEA store on Thursday, December 10 at 11:00 a.m.
The Evergreen Award is presented to Northwest companies for uncommon leadership in pollution prevention and sustainable business practices.

The Evergreen Award showcases companies that are demonstrating how to build an environmentally sustainable economy,” said EPA’s Clarke. “IKEA is obviously a successful enterprise that is aware of its environmental impacts and continuously applies innovative solutions to minimize those impacts. They are a clear example of how environmental protection and a thriving retail business can go hand-in-hand.”

IKEA was selected for this award because of their corporate and local commitment to the environment: their IKEA Green program, their Green Steps process for making business decisions, their reduced use of packaging and electricity and increased use of sustainably-harvested woods and the important signal they send to consumers when they promote an environmental ethic and take steps toward the goal of becoming a sustainable enterprise.

IKEA is a global retail furniture corporation operating 136 stores in 28 countries. In 1994, IKEA opened its first and only privately-held franchise store in Renton, Washington. The 148,600 square- foot Renton facility employs 350 people. (SEE: attached fact sheet for details about IKEA’s award-winning operation.)

EPA’s Evergreen Award is designed to showcase small, medium and large companies in the Pacific Northwest that have clearly incorporated a pollution preventing ethic into their business planning.

Companies in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington will be considered for nomination if they are in full compliance with environmental laws, and meet the criteria of:

1. having documented achievement in pollution prevention,
2. a commitment to the environment, and
3. a history of environmental leadership.

Nominations for the EPA Region 10 Evergreen Award for Pollution Prevention will be accepted from employees of environmental regulatory agencies as well as companies themselves. The deadline for the next round of awards is February 13, 1999. Nominations received after that date will be considered for subsequent rounds.

Complete nomination information and official forms may be obtained by contacting Carolyn Gangmark.