A new way of thinking about furniture recycling
Working with Dams, an ethical and conscientious furniture manufacturer, we recognise our responsibility to the environment, and reducing our impact on it. Their responsibility extends to you, our customer, and we recognise that reducing our carbon footprint reduces the footprint of anyone who works with us.
We continually strive to become ever more sustainable and, as part of our ongoing work for the environment, we are pleased to present our newest sustainability initiative, re.think.
Services we offer are;
Waste packaging recycling and reuse scheme - re.think
Our waste packaging recycling and reuse scheme forms a major part of the first pillar of our re.think sustainable solutions programme.
This service enables our customers to easily dispose of unwanted packaging material in a manner that is not only low cost and hassle free but, most importantly, is sustainable and environmentally-friendly.
In order to be recycled correctly and efficiently, waste packaging is separated into four streams of particular materials.
Cardboard and Paper (RCY-01)
This can be any type of cardboard, catalogues, and brochures
Plastic Packaging and Shrink Wrap (RCY-02)
This can be the plastic used to wrap products; shrink wrap, bubble wrap, chair bags, blue foam edge protector
Foam Pedestal Corners (RCY-03)
These are the foam corner protectors found in our pedestal packaging
Wooden Corner Packaging (RCY-04)
The heavy duty MFC and cardboard corner protection found in furniture products
Furniture Recycling
According to Waste & Resource Action Programme (WRAP), it is estimated that 1.2 million office desks and 1.8 million office chairs end up in land fill every year, making it the most common way to dispose of old or unwanted furniture.
re.think Furniture Recycling is another major part of the first pillar to the re.think programme, providing access to a nationwide collection and recycling service for our customers as a simple, sustainable solution for the disposal of old or unwanted furniture. Collections can be made either from your warehouse, or from your customer during delivery of new furniture.
Through this scheme, any furniture we collect is returned to our re.think depot and is stripped down, segregated, and fully recycled – avoiding landfill. We handle every part of the process, so our dealers don’t have to lift a finger. With re.think, our dealers and partners can offer their valued customers a fantastic, sustainable furniture disposal solution at a fraction of the cost usually associated with waste management.
For efficient recycling, we dismantle each product and segregate the materials as follows:
Wood
Board types are segregated and recycled in various ways. Much of the material here goes off-site to large biomass burners which generate green energy, while some is used within our own on-site biomass burner to generate heat for our factories.
Metal
There are two main metals used in office furniture: steel and aluminium. These materials are separated and can be recycled many times over.
Plastics
Using the Plastics Industry Association’s coding system, in accordance with ISO11469:2016, we can easily identify the various plastics. These categories allow clearer segregation for improved recyclability. Each of these plastics are converted to pellets and can be re-used to produce new products.
Fabric
Fabric is segregated into Vinyl, Synthetic and Wool. Wool is returned to our fabric supplier on a closed loop recycle chain. Vinyl and Synthetics are segregated and bailed to be recycled and re-processed.
Foam
Any foam that can be removed from the product is returned to our foam supplier on a closed loop recycle chain, and is put back into the manufacturing process. As with fabric, any foam that cannot be removed is segregated and disposed of via a regulated supplier.
Furniture remanufacturing
In the ongoing fight against climate change, innovation is one of our greatest strengths, giving rise to exciting new solutions for sustainability.
The third pillar of re.think, re.manufacturing, is encompassed by the remanufacturing service we provide. We utilise our state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities to breathe new life into old or unwanted office furniture, giving a second chance to products at end-of-life and saving them from landfill.
Through modern manufacturing processes that combine the efficiency of automation with the craftsmanship of expert hands, we are able to resize desks, convert pedestals to lockers, and re-upholster task chairs, sofas, and booths, cleaning and quality checking as we go.
This is a completely bespoke service, as every remanufacturing project deserves to be treated with utmost care, and we recognise that no two enquiries are the same.
