Can We Save 1.2M Desks and 1.8M Chairs from Landfills?

Ida Gorecka • October 8, 2024

We can’t do it alone—but together, we can make a massive difference.


The scale of office furniture waste is staggering. Every year in the UK alone, an estimated 1.2 million desks and 1.8 million office chairs are discarded and sent to landfills. Globally, over 3 million tonnes of office furniture meet the same fate annually. We see this as more than just a waste issue—it’s a missed opportunity. We’re committed to turning the tide on this growing problem, but we need your help to make a lasting impact.

Your Choices Hold the Key to Change

The decisions you make about your office furniture have a significant ripple effect. By choosing refurbished or recycled options, you’re not only saving money, you’re directly contributing to the protection of the planet. Every item you keep out of the landfill helps reduce the amount of waste that pollutes our environment and minimises the need for new raw materials. This, in turn, lowers the demand for energy-intensive manufacturing processes, reducing your carbon footprint.


Consider this: recycling one aluminium can saves enough energy to power a computer for three hours, and the same principle applies to the materials used in office furniture. When you opt for recycled or refurbished pieces, you’re taking part in a circular economy that keeps materials in use and drastically reduces the resources required to produce new items.

When You Choose Refurbishment

Think your used office furniture has reached the end of its life? Think again. Every piece of furniture we refurbish is given a second lease on life. By choosing refurbishment, you’re not just saving on costs, you’re making a conscious decision to cut down on carbon emissions and keep valuable materials in circulation. According to WRAP, the reuse of 295,000 office chairs each year prevents 12,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere. Just imagine the difference we can make by refurbishing even more.


Take a look at the transformation that can happen with a single piece of furniture: 

When You Buy Refurbished Furniture

Each refurbished desk or chair you purchase means one less item that needs to be manufactured from scratch. Manufacturing new office furniture consumes significant amounts of raw materials and energy, contributing to deforestation, mining, and other environmentally harmful activities. At Coggin SOS, we take old, worn-out office furniture and transform it into high-quality pieces that are as good as new, but without the environmental cost. By choosing refurbished options, you’re actively reducing demand for new materials, helping to preserve natural resources, and cutting down on waste. 


In 2023 alone, 295,000 pre-owned office chairs were sold or donated to charities and businesses, proving that there’s a growing market for sustainable choices.

When You Choose Zero Landfill Clearances

Opting for our zero landfill service ensures that none of your office furniture ends up in a landfill. Instead, we ensure that every desk, chair, or cabinet is either refurbished, recycled, or repurposed. By making this choice, you’re helping to transform waste into valuable resources that can be reintegrated into the economy.


In 2023, we saw a dramatic increase in our recycling and refurbishment efforts, saving over 11,834 items of furniture from landfill. That’s a huge win for the environment—and it’s only the beginning. As part of our commitment to zero landfill clearances, we aim to double that number over the next year, preventing thousands of tonnes of CO2 from being emitted. 


Here’s what that looks like:

What Is Enhanced Recycling?

Enhanced recycling goes far beyond traditional recycling methods. When we talk about enhanced recycling, we’re talking about a meticulous process that breaks down office furniture into its core components, ensuring that nothing goes to waste. This isn’t just about filling skips—it’s about extracting the maximum value from each material and making sure it’s reused responsibly. 


For example, the metals in your furniture, like steel and aluminium, can be endlessly recycled without degrading in quality. The energy saved by recycling these materials rather than producing them from raw ore is massive. Recycling aluminium, for instance, saves up to 95% of the energy required to make it from scratch.

At our facility, wood is recycled into new products, metals are melted down for reuse, and plastics are granulated on-site, ready to be repurposed into brand-new components. By breaking down furniture into its raw materials, we’re not just preventing waste, we’re creating a circular system that keeps resources in use for as long as possible.


See the process in action:

The Beauty of the Beast: Our On-Site Plastic Granulator

Our plastic granulator is one of the key players in our enhanced recycling process. This machine breaks down plastic components into granules, preparing them to be reused in new products. It’s a vital part of our closed-loop system, ensuring that plastic doesn’t end up in landfills but instead finds new life in the form of new office furniture components.


This continuous cycle of recycling and repurposing means that the office furniture you use today could very well contain parts of your old furniture from yesterday, an excellent example of how the circular economy works in practice. 


Watch the granulator at work:

Your Impact Matters

Thanks to you, in the past year, we’ve recycled over 11,834 items of office furniture and repurposed 7,121 more, keeping over 1,199,400 kg of CO2e out of the atmosphere. That’s the equivalent of taking 256 cars off the road for a year. 


And with your help, we’re just getting started. Our goal for the next 12 months is to double these numbers, expanding our impact and keeping even more valuable materials out of landfills.


Together, we’re not just preventing waste, we’re building a better future. Every decision you make, from choosing refurbished furniture to opting for zero landfill clearances, has a profound and lasting impact. By working with us, you’re joining a movement to reduce waste, lower carbon emissions, and give back to nature. 


Let’s continue this journey together. One chair, one desk, and one choice at a time, we can make a real difference.

Why Buying Cheap Costs More: The Long-Term Value of Quality Refurbished Furniture

By Ida Gorecka • July 30, 2025
You’re in the middle of planning an office space. Budgets are tight. Lead times are short. It’s tempting to type “cheap office chairs” into your browser and find something that fits the spreadsheet. But here’s the problem: cheap furniture is rarely cheap in the long run . The market is saturated with budget desks, chairs, and storage that look good online, but fall apart in practice. And when they do, they cost more - more to replace, more to dispose of, more to fix (if that’s even possible), and more in lost time and productivity. It’s a vicious cycle that undermines your budget, timeline, and any potential ESG goals. According to WRAP , the UK disposes of over 200,000 tonnes of office furniture every year - much of it barely used. When furniture fails quickly, so does your investment. In a commercial setting, that failure shows up in missed deadlines, spiralling budgets, and sustainability goals slipping out of reach. So before you hit "order" on another bulk buy of flat-packed furniture, take a moment. In this article, you'll learn the hidden costs of cheap office furniture and why refurbished premium office furniture is the smarter alternative. If you're looking to reduce hassle, save money, and build a workspace that actually lasts, keep on reading. Need help getting started? Get in touch with our team for advice, audits, or to browse our refurbished stock .

Refurbished Office Furniture Saves Overbury Over £2000 on Site Setup Costs

By Ida Gorecka • July 18, 2025
Anyone who's worked in construction knows that site setup costs can quickly spiral. For Overbury , one of the UK's leading fit-out and refurbishment specialists, managing these costs while maintaining professional standards is a constant balancing act. When setting up their latest construction site office, they faced a challenge familiar to many in the industry: creating a functional workspace quickly and cost-effectively. After seeing what we achieved together on their previous project, Overbury approached us with clear priorities - they needed a professional office setup delivered on a construction timeline. With tight deadlines to meet and costs to manage, they needed their office space ready quickly while avoiding the expense and environmental impact of buying new office furniture. Like many construction projects, this one came with complex requirements - specific layouts, tight timelines, and budget constraints - yet Overbury knew from experience that refurbished office furniture could deliver exactly what they needed.

From Purchase to Repurpose: How to Extend the Lifespan of Your Office Furniture

By Ida Gorecka • July 16, 2025
If you're managing an office move, refit, or hybrid transition, you've likely faced this question: do we buy new furniture, or make use of what we have? Every year, over 1.2 million desks and 1.8 million office chairs are sent to landfill in the UK- enough to fill Wembley Stadium twice. ( Source: WRAP ) With Landfill Tax raised to £126.15 per tonne in April 2025 (S ource: UK Government ), the cost of disposing office furniture is increasing fast. If you’re trying to balance budgets , meet ESG goals , and minimise downtime , choosing refurbishment over replacement could be the most strategic decision you make this year. In this guide, we’ll show you how to get more from what you already own. Saving thousands, supporting your ESG goals, and creating a more flexible, future-proof workspace. Got a project coming up? Get in touch and we’ll help you explore your refurbishment options.