IKEA delivers by the Seine in Paris to cut down emissions

The river is a natural and sustainable highway running through the heart of the French metropolis

Since December 2022, the home furniture giant IKEA’s branch in France has been using the Seine River as its main delivery route into Paris. This has been developed in partnership with the French capital’s government and the government of the Île-de-France region, as part of the strategic plan to decarbonize freight and logistics in the metropolis.

IKEA itself has partnered with Box2Home to create the scheme which combines river barges and electric vehicles into a flexible network of home deliveries suitable for its entire range of products.

River transport – an underutilized option

The new solution allows for the entire IKEA product range to be delivered by the river in the French capital, emitting up to five times less CO2 than road delivery and saving around 300,000 kilometres on Parisian roads annually.

“We are proud to be a pioneer in this field and introduce deliveries via the Seine in Paris. With this innovation, we are taking an important step to support the growth of home deliveries while reducing the environmental impact. I would like to thank the City of Paris, HAROPA PORT, the Île-de-France region, and Voies navigables de France for their assistance and support,” says Emma Recco, Country Business Development Manager at IKEA France in a corporate press release.

Currently, the route concerns deliveries from the distribution centre in the port of Gennevilliers (in the northwestern fringes of the Parisian metropolis). Orders are then transported in containers by boat to the port of Bercy (12^th arrondissement) and are then charged on electric vehicles to complete the “last mile” to their recipients.

The scheme is planned to be expanded by connecting the IKEA Customer Distribution Center to the harbour of Limay (outside of the metropolis) that opens in 2026.