“We want to reduce the use of petroleum-based plastic in general. Particularly where we do not have control over the product’s afterlife,” explains Per-Ola Nilsson, Technical Support for paper and print, at IKEA Indirect Materials and Services.
“We can’t know what the consumer will do with the gift card. So an organic material like paperboard is better in this case, because it damages nature less if it is not recycled properly.”
The process to replace plastic with paperboard is happening simultaneously at all IKEA stores around the world. The plastic cards are gradually being phased out as all the newly ordered cards are made of Invercote. Nine motifs of the gift card and three versions of the refund card are involved.
“Three of the gift card motifs are made of birch veneer but otherwise they are all Invercote,” Nilsson says. “What we’re after is the premium feeling. Invercote has extremely good printability and stays flat when you place it on a flat surface, which is important so that people will experience the cards as being of the highest quality.”
Facts
Brand: IKEA
Product: Gift cards
Paperboard: Invercote Duo
Printing technique: Sheet-fed offset
Finishing: Die cutting, personalisation