I found this great article written by Alyson Arnold at American Chronicle.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/29708
Look around. How much office furniture do you see?
Desks, bookshelves, chairs, cubicles, sofas, conference tables… furniture is all
around you. Consider what would happen if half the furniture you see along with
half the office furniture in every business, medical office and school in the
nation were dumped into landfills. It's happening right now.
Reducing
Strain on Our Landfills
The Business and Institutional Furniture
Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) states, "A survey indicates that approximately
half of the scrap currently generated may be ending up in landfills." Much of
this waste is still structurally sound.
Oftentimes, companies discard old
furniture because it looks outdated, not because something is broken. Used
office furniture that might go to a landfill can easily be refurbished or
remanufactured. Replace a wobbly roller on an office chair, add some new
upholstery and it is as good as new! Reupholster your panels, add new laminate
surfaces, and they look like they belong on the front cover of this year's new
office furniture catalog. Undeniably, used office furniture saves our natural
resources and helps reduce the strain on our landfills.
"The EPA estimates that businesses discarded approximately three million tons of
furniture and furnishings in 1995." (Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste
in the United States: 1996 Update) "Given a 1995 national average tipping fee of
about $32 per ton (Solid Waste Digest), the potential avoided disposal costs are
upwards of $100 million." - EPA Waste Wi$e Update, pg.6
The Office Furniture Recyclers Forum (OFRF) in Alexandria, Virginia reports,
"Remanufacturing just 40 workstations diverts one tractor-trailer load of
furniture from a landfill. Industry experts estimate that for each pound of
natural resources used in remanufacturing, five to nine pounds of virgin
materials are conserved." Further, for every workstation that is recycled, an
average of 850 pounds is diverted from a landfill.
Types of Used Office Furniture
When many people think of "used
office furniture," they envision scratch and dent items. While those would
certainly fall into this category, refurbished office furniture is another
variety. Refurbishing involves repairing structural damage (for instance, the
broken arm of a chair) and refreshing appearance. Remanufactured furniture is
completely reworked both structurally and aesthetically.
Used Office Furniture Saves Money
Purchasing used office furniture
can save up to 90% off retail prices of new products because the manufacturing
costs were absorbed when the furniture was first produced.
If you've been
struggling with the cost of new furniture, consider the benefits of buying used.
Used office furniture keeps both our environment and your bank account green!
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