How Much Furniture Ends Up In Landfills – In the US alone, over 17 billion pounds of office furniture and equipment are sent to landfills each year. This waste is usually the result of necessary changes such as moving, closing branches, or revitalization projects. The furniture must be removed or replaced but what is done with the furniture or, “F”, waste is the problem.
In the US alone, over 17 billion pounds of office furniture and equipment are sent to landfills each year. This waste is usually the result of necessary changes such as moving, closing branches, or revitalization projects. The furniture must be removed or replaced but what is done with the furniture or, “F”, waste is the problem. It’s actually a significant problem since the materials shouldn’t be going to landfill in the first place.
How Much Furniture Ends Up In Landfills
A typical desk chair is made of dozens of different materials and chemicals and an entire cubicle can produce between 300 – 700 pounds of waste. Since most furniture and equipment are also made of wood, metal and plastic and have a long life, the use of the product can be changed effectively. These materials are also considered scarce resources and dangerous if not properly disposed of, meaning recycling or reuse should be the first option.
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In general, Canadians like to recycle. According to a recent GfK Roper Green Gauge Global survey, Canadian consumers rank first in recycling out of 25 countries surveyed. However, the habit of recycling household products has not translated into business waste. Because of the increased possibilities, recycling at home has become relatively easy and awareness of how to do it and why is high. A similar approach should be applied to office waste – business leaders and managers should be educated on the scope of the problem and provide easy and cost-effective solutions to deal with it.
Electronics, or e-waste, is a great example of how this can be achieved for businesses. Like F-waste, the process was originally complicated and businesses were unaware of their options or how big the problem actually was. Due to increased awareness and public education, people and businesses are now adopting better solutions. Many organizations, including the Canadian government, have even implemented targets to reduce e-waste.
The other thing that E and F-waste have in common is that the materials are not waste at all and can often be reused for community/charity organizations or for resale. This idea feeds into the “circular economy,” which aims to reduce waste and pollution by creating products that can be reused, recycled or repaired. The concept has the potential to reshape the way things are made, used and reused – it’s also becoming popular in places like the UK, but Canada has some work to do.
Currently, Canada does not track how much F waste is sent to landfill, making it very difficult to understand the extent of the problem and the potential economic, environmental and social opportunities. A 2014 study by McKinsey & Co estimated that the circular economy could add $2.6 trillion to the European economy by 2030, potentially boosting GDP by 3.9%. As the circular economy catches on in other parts of the world, there’s no reason Canada can’t benefit, but leaders Business and policy need to make this kind of thinking commonplace.
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General Motors is a great example – the company is reducing the amount of furniture and equipment waste from an office renovation project by working with the rePurpose program, a partnership between Herman Miller and Green Standards. The rePurpose program provides a sustainable and cost-effective approach to managing excess office furniture, equipment, supplies and materials.
The partnership is expected to divert 2,000 tons of furniture and equipment from the landfill through a combination of resale, recycling and donation channels, and generate an estimated $1 million in-kind contribution to 100 non-profit organizations. This furthers GM’s zero-landfill goals while complementing its ongoing community investment activities.
What GM did differently was incorporate a plan for its existing furniture and equipment into the broader renovations at three major offices in eastern Michigan. As its renovations evolve, GM and its partners have a process for understanding its inventory, engaging buyers, nonprofits and recyclers, and reporting the outcome. F waste will be effectively eliminated from the process.
Although GM is a large multinational business, this is an example that can be replicated in any business of any size. The business should set targets to reduce F-waste, include the time for re-implementation in their transition plans and share their successes to increase awareness. Unfortunately, the big furniture trend in Australia is that thousands of tonnes of cheap mass-produced items will end up in the bin. Mark Vander examines the problem – and some possible solutions.
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We’ve all seen the mountains of wooden furniture – not to mention mattresses, brick goods and a wide variety of other trunks – appearing on the pavement during council clean-ups. It’s noticeable enough on one street, but how does it stack up over an entire city?
“There is a fundamental problem with the disposal of used furniture at the curb, and it’s a growing problem,” confirms Kevin Morgan, CEO of EC Sustainable, a consulting company that for almost 20 years has been reviewing the types of materials disposed of in the council’s cleaning collections.
Based on the vehicle survey of more than 2,500 households in metropolitan areas, on average each household gets rid of 24 kg of wooden furniture per year. About one-third of this is soft furnishings such as sofas and armchairs, and two-thirds other wooden furniture.
“If you think about a population of 2 million households in the Greater Sydney area, that can add up to 48,000 tonnes of used furniture a year being dumped on the kerb,” Quinn says.
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If we consider this in terms of furniture – and average furniture weights – this is equivalent to 800,000 three-seat sofas, 1.65 million dining tables, 3.4 million coffee tables or 6.85 million chairs, which are thrown away every year.
These numbers are for Sydney only and do not include other furniture handed in directly to tips by households and businesses or illegal dumping. And the problem is getting worse.
While our disposable culture is undoubtedly an underlying cause, Kevin argues that the poor quality of modern furniture is also a major factor. “A lot of new furniture is usually useless after a few years, especially the cheaper end of the mass market.”
He notes that many of these products are made from veneers and engineered wood that can’t be sanded back or retracted—and they swell quickly and rot if exposed to moisture. On top of that, the modern accessories are usually made of plastic rather than metal and are therefore less strong. And when a handle or bracket does break, replacements are often hard to find. The prices are so low that many people simply choose to throw it away and refurbish.
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A big part of the solution is to change the consumer mindset. When we purchase furniture, we must focus on quality and long-term use. And we can also be more aware of how our furniture is made. In today’s globalized world, we often fail to see how each step in the production chain—logging, manufacturing, transportation—affects our planet. By promoting the production of custom, responsibly made furniture, Handkrafted is trying to help bring about this change in mindset.
Handcrafted’s community of independent Australian artisans creates quality pieces that are made to meet each customer’s unique requirements – and made to last. There is a direct dialogue with the manufacturer, so customers know where the materials were taken from and who made them. All of this adds up to furniture imbued with meaning and sentiment that will likely be passed down to future generations rather than remaining on the curb.
Handkrafted founder Fred Kimmel explains, “One of the main reasons I started Handkrafted was a result of my long-held belief that the items we buy should be well-crafted and made to last. It’s so sad that so much of what we buy today is thrown away after a few years Only. There is no doubt that more conscious consumption and a greater adoption of the philosophy of ‘buy less, buy better’ is the only sustainable way forward. Beyond existing concerns, it is much more meaningful to invest in household items that you really value, and whose design you had a part in designing.” .
Alison Collins of Bombora Custom Furniture says the environmental impacts shouldn’t be underestimated. “It’s so easy to forget all the processes that were involved in the production of a single item. That every time something is thrown out, you’re not only adding to the landfill, but you’re also throwing away all the energy and materials required to make the item and using up more resources by purchasing the replacement. Our guiding principle is to purchase Once and buy right,” Alison says.
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Cheap mass-produced furniture may seem like a good short-term solution, but it’s the planet that pays the bill in the end. By thinking long-term and sustainably, we can reverse the trend. Handcrafted team
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