No matter what type of material a piece of furniture is made from, it should never be put in your recycling bin at home. Furniture in good condition can be donated or sold to a new owner to keep it in use for as long as possible.
If you are not able to sell, donate, repair or upcycle the piece of furniture, unfortunately, it should be sent to landfill. If the item is too large to fit in your garbage bin at home, you should transport it to your local tip or contact your council to see if they have a collection service. Dumping furniture on the street or in the environment is illegal and is a fineable offence.
Can you recycle furniture?
In general, unless your item is made of pure metal, pure plastic, or pure untreated timber, it won't be recyclable (if your piece of furniture is only made of metal, you may be able to find a scrap metal recycler in your area that will accept it).
There are, however, ways to reuse, repair and upcycle furniture so that it can be used again, which prevents valuable materials from going to waste in landfill.
How to reuse, sell or donate furniture
If you're looking to get rid of some unwanted furniture or find a pre-loved bargain, then reusing, upcycling, donating or selling are all options that have a positive environmental impact. By saving the piece of furniture from landfill, materials are kept in use at their highest value, which prevents the mining of resources to make new products and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
If your furniture is in good condition, you may be able to sell it or give it away using an online marketplace such as Gumtree, eBay and Facebook Marketplace.
There are plenty of ways to find or pass on good quality furniture: through charity stores, secondhand furniture shops and antique stores, which are great places to hunt down a bargain – or pick up a collectable – all whilst helping to minimise your impact on the environment.
Re-Love (formally The Run for Good Project) is a registered charity that supports women and children impacted by domestic violence and homelessness by providing them with good quality rescued furniture and household items. Operating in NSW, individuals, businesses and workplaces can donate their secondhand goods including furniture and some electrical products.
How to recycle office furniture
If your workplace or business has large quantities of furniture to dispose of, passing them on by donating or selling them will keep the materials used to make the products in use for longer. If they are not in good enough condition for donation or sale, there may be recycling options. Visit Business Recycling to find reuse and recycling services in your area for large quantities of office furniture.
GreenChair is a sustainable furniture and goods repurposing program operating across Australia helping businesses reduce their waste to landfill by allocating furniture and other unwanted items during renovation, relocation and demolition to not-for-profit organisations, charities and community groups in need.
How to upcycle furniture
During Planet Ark's National Recycling Week in 2021, the team at Planet Ark created the Save Our Furniture campaign to encourage Australians to upcycle old, outdated, and unwanted pieces of furniture. Watch our free online tutorials for expert upcycling tips and inspiration.
Furniture Buy-Back Programs
All IKEA stores in Australia offer customers the opportunity to return their eligible pre-loved IKEA products to the Buy-back service. In return, customers are offered a refund card of up to 50% of the returned product’s original value. Follow the steps via their online tool to obtain an estimate of your furniture’s buy-back value. Then bring the furniture, together with your estimate, to your preferred store. Products returned through the buy-back service are resold in-store and online or donated to community projects.
IKEA also offers free spare parts to customers to help them extend the life of their products. Whether a part is missing, broken or needed to renew a product, customers can place an order for the parts they need online and receive free delivery or pick up in-store.
More information
Find recycling services for mattresses in your area.
Discover how to recycle white goods.
