Ikea’s buying back furniture

Furniture buy-back

Got an old Billy bookcase you’re no longer using? You can now trade it for something new, under Ikea’s keenly anticipated buy-back scheme. It’s offering vouchers of up to 50% of the original sale price for items in good condition. The recycling initiative will re-sell the used furniture in store, to help meet the retailer’s aim to be “climate positive” by 2030.

Car sales rev up

Dealerships saw a 30-fold increase in new car sales in April compared to last year, as they reopened their doors for the first time in months. 141,000 vehicles were driven off the forecourt last month - still down 13% on the decade average.

Green pensions charter

Businesses and pension funds have been urged to switch to low-carbon investments ahead of the Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow this November. Campaigners have called on companies to sign up to the green pensions charter to make pensions net-zero by 2050. The UK pensions sector accounts for about £2.6 trillion, and several funds managing around £400 billion of pension savings have already signed up to the charter.

Squid pro quo

A Japanese seaside town has found itself in hot water for spending emergency coronavirus funding on a giant statue of a squid. The 13-metre long statue cost ¥25m (£164,000) and is intended to boost tourism to the town, where squid is a seafood delicacy.