Waste quantities of furniture and related materials

Furniture is a product with a relatively long life. From the perspective of environment and resources, long life is an important parameter. For furniture, environmental impact is very limited during use but more associated with production and waste. That often means that long durability without problems can balance environmental impacts during production and waste.

Discarded furniture makes part of household waste and is handled by the municipal waste processing authorities associated or not with private companies. It is likely that most furniture waste is dumped although no detailed official statistics are available.

Based on the enquiry carried out by the experts, it is estimated that between 8 and 10 million tonnes of furniture is decommissioned annually in the EU.

An increase in consumption of furniture contributes to a rise in the amount of waste associated with furniture and vice-versa. Increased recycling and re-use of furniture has the opposite effect.

The types of materials used in furniture will affect the way in which it is handled in waste form. Furniture is not normally perceived as having as great an environmental impact as products as cars, detergents, …