No office chair will last forever, and there will come a day you have to wave goodbye to your faithful work friend. But how can you do it in a sustainable way that ensures the item isn’t simply sent to landfill?
Whether your chair is broken and unusable or still has plenty of life left in it, we’ve outlined the main ways you can get rid of an office chair to help you decide what to do with yours. Oh, and if you’re in the market for a new office chair to replace your old one, take a look at our range of ergonomic office chairs that are designed for maximum support and comfort.
Can you simply bin an office chair?
You can’t just get rid of an office chair with your household waste, and most councils won’t take them if they’re left next to your household bin on collection day. If you can’t fit it in the bin, it counts as ‘bulky’ waste, which we’ll come onto further down this page.
Something else to consider is whether your office chair contains POPs, or persistent organic pollutants. These were generally used in chairs pre-2015 as flame retardants, but any chairs that contain POPs can’t go to landfill, and therefore must go into designated skips at your local recycling centre. If your office chair is post-2015 and still has its original fire safety label, then you can dispose of it in a general waste skip or as a bulky collection.
How to dispose of an office chair
Sell it
If your office chair is still in good working order and looks clean and presentable, you can sell it on a whole range of selling sites, including eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and more. Local people will see your listing and contact you if they’re interested in buying the chair, or at least want to view it. Selling it on for further use is a far more sustainable choice than binning it.
When selling your office chair, be sure to take high quality, well-lit images, and write a decent description that explains the condition of the chair, how old it is, any defects it has and its size.
Take it to a charity shop
Not all charity shops will take furniture, so you should double check before you take the time to get the chair in the car and drive over to the shop. The British Heart Foundation is one example that does take furniture. In fact, they’ll usually come and collect it from your house if you’re unable to drop it off. The furniture must be in good condition with no missing parts and should be cleaned before pickup.
Donate it to a school, community centre or library
There may be someone in need in your local community who would really benefit from an office chair, so you could take the time to post in local Facebook groups, enquire at your local school or library or ask your neighbours to see if they know of any community groups that would like it. It’s always lovely to pass something on to someone in genuine need, or who perhaps wouldn’t have the money to buy one.
Arrange bulk waste collection
Many local councils offer a bulk waste collection service, but the rules really differ between councils so we’d advise that you check your local council’s site for more specific details.
Around 26 councils offer bulk waste collection completely free of charge, but most will charge between £20 and £50 for one collection. As we’ve mentioned before, office chairs are considered domestic seating, and there are now specific legal requirements around seating and POPs. Some councils say that upholstered chairs, including office chairs, require a separate collection and can’t be collected with other bulky waste items (such as other furniture).
How to recycle an office chair
If you want to recycle your office chair yourself, you’ll need to dismantle the chair into its separate materials first.
Find the instructions for dismantling a chair on the manufacturer’s website. If it’s a Slouch chair, you can read our guide to disassembling your chair here.
You’ll need to separate the materials so that plastic is together, metal is together and then other materials are together (like foam, fabric, etc). Most office chair bases and frames are made from steel and aluminium, which many scrapyards will take. The plastic shell and mesh fabric are sometimes recyclable, depending on your local council, but you can’t recycle the foam/fabric.
If the chair has a gas cylinder, this should be removed as it generally can’t be recycled.
What is the most sustainable way to get rid of an office chair?
When it comes to sustainability, the ‘best’ way is always to reuse. It takes energy to recycle a chair, and not every part can be recycled and will likely end up at landfill. Therefore, selling or donating your old office chair so it can be used for a few years to come is the most sustainable way.
How do I dispose of multiple broken office chairs?
Business waste is a bit more difficult to dispose of because of all the regulations and the fact that it needs to be disposed of by a licensed waste carrier. If these rules are breached, the business can receive a fine.
We’d advise that you use a registered removal or clearance company, and you can check whether they’re a licensed waste carrier on the Environment Agency’s public register. These companies are used to all the red tape around business waste disposal and will give you a waste transfer note for every load, too. You could also use a council trade waste contract, or a private waste carrier.
