Beyond Recycling: The Role of Office Furniture in a Truly Sustainable Economy

Ida Gorecka • August 7, 2025

If you're here, you're probably managing a lot. A relocation, a refurbishment, or a growing ESG brief. Maybe you’re under pressure to meet sustainability targets, stay on budget, and deliver results your team and clients can actually see.


And right now, office furniture might not be on your radar. But it should be.


In most organisations, furniture is still treated as an afterthought. It’s functional, it’s bulky, and when it’s no longer needed, it’s often sent straight to landfill. But here’s the truth: when you start thinking of office furniture as a strategic asset within the circular economy, everything changes. For your budget. Your carbon reporting. Your project timelines. Your reputation.


This article is for you if you’re tired of defaulting to skips. If you want smarter ways to meet ESG goals without blowing your budget. If you’re ready to make office sustainability a measurable advantage - not just a checkbox.


We’ll show you just how much office furniture is wasted each year, what it’s really costing your business, and how the circular economy can apply directly to your projects. You’ll learn how organisations like yours are saving thousands, avoiding skips entirely, and turning unwanted furniture into reportable ESG wins - plus practical steps to get started today.


Curious what your office clearance could be worth? Get in touch with our team for a free circular furniture audit. 

The Cost of a Linear Office Furniture Mindset

You’re probably familiar with the old model: buy new, use until it’s worn or no longer needed, skip it, dispose, and move on. It’s the default in most organisations - especially during relocations, refurbishments, or layout changes. But that model is becoming harder to justify. Not just because it’s wasteful, but because it’s expensive, inefficient, and increasingly out of step with sustainability expectations.


The numbers that should stop you:


  1. In the UK every year, roughly 1.2 million desks and 1.8 million chairs are landfilled, many still usable (source: WRAP). 
  2. Globally, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 80-90% of office furniture ends up in landfill, despite 51% being suitable for reuse with only light repair.
  3. In the UK, between 165,000-200,000 tonnes of office furniture are discarded by businesses every year (source: GOV). Internal surveys suggest only a small percentage of that is ever reused or refurbished.
  4. Meanwhile, the UK landfill tax rose to £126.15 per tonne in April 2025 - and most organisations still overlook skip hire, labour, and handling costs on top.


This means you’re often paying twice: once to buy the furniture, and again to throw it away.


But there’s a better option - and it’s already working for businesses like yours.


Get in touch with Coggin SOS for a free office furniture audit and see how much you could save before you clear a single item.

Why Tapping into the Circular Economy Is a Smarter Way to Do Business

When disposal costs stack up and sustainability targets get tougher, sticking with a linear model quickly becomes a liability. The circular economy offers a clear alternative, one that puts existing assets to better use.


Circular furniture strategies - reuse, refurbishment, and recycling - reduce overheads, avoid delays, and deliver measurable carbon savings. WRAP reports that refurbishing office furniture can reduce embodied carbon by up to 80% compared to purchasing new. And every desk reused avoids the emissions, material extraction, and disruption involved in manufacturing a replacement.


In the UK alone, keeping 200,000 desks and 295,000 chairs in circulation each year avoids around 3,600 tonnes of COâ‚‚e - roughly the same as taking 1,600 cars off the road!


Across Europe, the upside is even greater. According to the European Environmental Bureau, embracing circular models in the furniture sector could unlock €4.9 billion in economic value and create over 163,000 new jobs by 2030.


For practical guidance on how to apply circular economy principles to your office, visit our  Learning Centre, packed with insights, videos, quizzes, and step-by-step advice.


Or, dive deeper into the wider impact of circularity in workplace design in our article: Understanding the Circular Economy in Office Furniture: A Comprehensive Analysis.

Why It Matters to Your Business - Today

There’s growing pressure to prove that your business decisions align with ESG goals. Landfill is no longer a cheap or acceptable option.


  • The UK landfill tax rose to £126.15 per tonne in April 2025.
  • Procurement teams now expect circular procurement as standard.
  • Net Zero targets require detailed reporting and your furniture strategy is part of that.


Legislation is also evolving. With policies like the UK’s Extended Producer Responsibility regulations and the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, durability and traceability are becoming non-negotiable. Frameworks like BS 8001:2017 go further - expecting measurable circular practices, not assumptions.


That’s where Coggin SOS supports you directly.


In 2024, we helped clients reuse over 6,775 items and recycle more than 17,500, diverting them from landfill. We also processed 894,162kg of separated material, with full audit trails and zero-landfill assurance. All while cutting costs and supporting ESG goals.


If your team is planning a move, fit-out, or decommission, this is your chance to align commercial priorities with environmental performance, and prove it.


Get in touch with our team to arrange a zero-landfill office clearance or recycling solution today.

What Happens to Your Office Furniture During a Circular Project

If you’re planning a move, fit-out, or clearance, you don’t have to send everything to landfill or buy new. Much of what you already have can be put back to work.


At Coggin SOS, we treat every project as an opportunity to protect your budget and your ESG goals. Here’s how:


We start with reuse


A large proportion of office furniture is still in excellent condition. We clean, check, and redeploy it - either within your business or through resale. That means you avoid disposal costs and skip the wait for replacements.


Curious how to keep your furniture in use for longer? We’ve broken down the key strategies in this article.


We refurbish what can be restored


Chairs can be reupholstered, desks resized, and mechanisms repaired. You get like-new furniture at a fraction of the cost, without compromising on quality. In one recent project, a client saved £7,710 and prevented 2,138 kg of COâ‚‚e! 


Take a look at our case studies here.


We recycle what’s left - properly


If something can’t be reused or refurbished, we dismantle it and send it through certified recycling streams. In 2024 alone, we diverted over 17,500 items and 894,162 kg of material from landfill, all tracked and fully auditable.


Click here to find out more about our recycling process.


We supply what you still need - sustainably


Need to top up your stock? We hold refurbished items from long-life brands like Herman Miller, Vitra, and Orangebox - available within 10 days and backed by a full 12-month warranty.


See what’s currently in stock.

Final Thoughts: Beyond the Bin, Into the Loop

Recycling is great. But real sustainability work starts earlier. It starts at the moment you decide not to throw that chair or desk away. It starts when you ask: how can we keep this in use?


At Coggin SOS, we help you answer that with confidence.


We repair what others skip.


We document what others ignore.


We deliver value others miss.


So next time you’re planning a fit-out, a clearance, or an office move, ask yourself: what kind of business do we want to be?


Because every desk you save, every chair you refurbish, every kilo you divert, it all adds up.


Ready to go beyond recycling?


Let’s build a zero-landfill plan around the assets you already own. Get in touch today to find out how much you could save.

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.