Fast Furniture: Waste Becoming a Resource

Barbara Kruger’s artwork, ‘I shop therefore I am,’ is a testimony to our overconsumption in a disposable society. Fast furniture and fit-out churn waste leave us with the question of what to do with unwanted furnishings other than sending them to landfill or incineration.

There was a time when disposing of a piece of furniture was never a question because products were made to last a lifetime. They were handed down from generation to generation as furniture was valued. Repair, reuse, and maintain are not new methodologies.

It is fantastic to see that there are avenues for the general public, like online marketplaces, to trade unwanted furniture. The maker's movement is also building momentum. The commercial sector also has companies like Egans, Revert, and Ilimaf working hard to create a materials circular economy. These are great steps towards a new way of working. According to IBIS World, there are over 3,368 furniture businesses in Australia (this doesn't include online sales of imports) with revenue of AU$11.9 billion in 2023, so there is a lot of furniture being sold. The question is, what are we doing with it?

CDT perceives fast furniture to be one of the biggest concerns, where short-term life cycles have been designed into products alongside waste and surplus being costed into margins. The shift to inferior materials to generate these short-term volume sales urgently needs to be addressed if we are to value furniture waste as a resource.

So, what is the answer? There needs to be many pathways to deal with the existing waste. But then a focus on designing for circularity from entry-level products through to premium. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation states the influence of design: "80% of a product's environmental impact is influenced by decisions made at the design stage."

Mapping materials for a circular economy needs social change in buying and production habits across commercial and residential sectors. It also needs the support of government legislation (similar to the warning that the Environmental Minister gave the apparel world - if they don’t voluntarily sign up to the Seamless Scheme, it will be mandated).

Our concern in the furniture world is that it too has repercussions just as devastating as fashion but is hidden in plain sight.

What if we as brand owners, manufacturers and importers stopped overproducing to meet ‘minimum orders’ with our suppliers and produced just enough? Then utilised the surplus budget to invest in local skill shortages in building a materials circular economy by 2030.

Furniture waste becoming a resource will take an intervention of industry, government, and consumers to become accountable for our consumption of resources and accountability around disposal. There is so much work to be done, and there are multiple layers of pathways and solutions.

SO IS OUR INDUSTRY BRAVE ENOUGH TO:

• Go on the journey.

• Design products with end-of-life solutions that are tracked.

• Utilise current materials in the economy and track their supply chain.

• Be accountable for what we produce.

• Collaborate with councils and charities and help fund a circular materials infrastructure.

• Support work to create a foundation to recycle and buy back locally.

• Embrace long-term training for the greater good of all.

• Be patient with this behavioral change.

• Choose community over competition.

• Focus on long-term gains versus short-term wins.

Image Credit: Barbara Kruger