Where does office furniture go when companies close, downsize, or relocate? 

When businesses shut down or change office locations, one major question arises: What happens to all the used office furniture?

There are multiple avenues to take when removing office furniture. 

Unwanted office furniture usually gets: 

• Re-sold 

• Put in storage 

• Donated to a charity 

• Sent to a landfill 

All options have hidden costs in time, effort, and logistics that add up. That’s why many businesses partner with a furniture liquidator that will take care of removal and resale for them. However, it’s not uncommon for companies to never know what happens to the furniture once a liquidator takes it out of their hands. 

Once old office furniture is taken by a liquidator, where does it go? 

High-end used items, like Herman Miller Aeron chairs or other premium office furniture brands, will be resold. Any furniture that’s difficult to sell, heavily worn, or outdated may get donated – but more often than not it gets thrown out. 

In an era that stresses brand identity, many businesses want to follow through on their company values by limiting their environmental footprint. For organizations that want to minimize waste and pollution, working with a sustainable office furniture decommissioning company is essential.   

How can liquidators be more sustainable? 

Focusing on limiting landfill contributions through refurbishing and recycling used furniture is a major way liquidators can shrink their environmental footprint. Reselling furniture promotes a circular economy. By keeping the item in use natural resources are saved, transportation pollution decreases, and landfill contributions are limited. 

Transparency is essential when making business practices more sustainable. Office Furniture Resources provides Green Reports at the end of liquidation projects, itemizing where every piece of furniture went instead of to the landfill. OFR has prioritized sustainability since 1991 – helping businesses handle office transitions responsibly while keeping furniture out of landfills.