IKEA bag now made with 90% recycled material
The blue FRAKTA bag got a refresh for its 30th anniversary.
IKEA’s blue FRAKTA bag
© Inter IKEA Systems B.V. 2026The bag contains at least 70% recycled packaging waste from the food and plastic industries (items such as plastic food containers or jumbo bags used for milk powder).
Both the body and handles are made from one material - recycled polypropylene.
A small amount of blue pigment has been added to preserve the bag's colour, while a minimal share of virgin polypropylene helps maintain the strength needed to carry up to 25kg.
Additionally, the blue bag is now made through a fully automated production process. The handles are fused directly into the material rather than stitched on manually, as in previous versions, and any leftover material from the process is collected and fed back into the production line to create new bags.
The update to production saves time and approximately 89,000km of thread. It has also offset the additional processing, sorting and quality-control costs associated with recycled polypropylene, allowing the FRAKTA bag to retain its price.
‘Achieving a high share of recycled material content in the FRAKTA bag meant overcoming significant technical challenges,’ says Jakub Brat, Engineering Manager at IKEA of Sweden.
‘Recycled polypropylene requires additional processing and quality control, while redesigning the FRAKTA bag to use a single material involved rethinking key elements of the bag without compromising strength or affordability.’
Introduced in 1996, more than 44 million FRAKTA bags are sold each year, making it the single most sold IKEA home furnishing product.
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