Even the best of office chairs can become old and worn out and will eventually need to be tossed out. This can be a pretty tragic time if you loved sitting in your comfortable office chair. But it is also an exciting time because you now get to go shopping for a brand new chair that might offer you even more comforts.
Before you start shopping, you should first clear some office space by getting rid of your old chair. In this guide, we will show you how to dispose of office chairs in the easiest and most eco-friendly ways possible.
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Tips to Consider Before You Toss Your Old Chair Out
But before you consider tossing unwanted office furniture out, you should first take a look at a couple of ideas to help you upcycle an old office chair so you can reuse it.
There are plenty of clever bloggers out there who are constantly sharing some great ideas to help you turn trash into a treasure so you can keep these items from polluting the environment.
Here are also a couple of things to consider before you begin any disposal process.
A sinking office chair
You shouldn’t toss out a chair if it is sinking because this is a pretty quick and affordable repair that you can do all on your own. Your office chair is likely sinking because some of the cylinders have become worn out or might need a bit of grease. You can learn how to fix a sinking office chair quickly and restore your chair so you can keep using it for a couple more years.
A chair that leans forward or backward.
It is pretty tough to sit comfortably in a chair that is leaning. For chairs that lean forward or backward, the casters are usually damaged, the tilt tension control might need adjusting, or the seat plate needs to be tightened. You can learn how to fix a chair that leans forwards or backward in a how-to guide.
If the chair leans to one side, you might not be able to fix it because the repairs usually end up costing more than the chair.
A chair that is uncomfortable
If the chair is uncomfortable but technically not broken then you shouldn’t just toss it out. Office chairs are usually designed for specific body types and your sight simply does not suit your body. Instead of taking it apart and throwing it out, you can consider a seat cushion or donating it to someone else who might be a better fit for the chair.
Your donation won’t just be generous, it will also keep waste materials out of landfills and the chair will be useful for a couple more years.
The upholstery is cracked
Most modern office furniture pieces are made from PU leather upholstery. This type of upholstery looks great but will start to crack in just a couple of years. You shouldn’t toss out the chair just because it looks unsightly. A skilled seamstress or upholstery company can redo the upholstery and can have the chair looking great in no time and at a very good price.
How to Dispose of Office Chairs
There are quite a few different ways to dispose of your old office furniture pieces that don’t involve illegal dumping. Here are the quickest furniture disposal options for a bulky items like unusable furniture pieces.
Consider donation
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Just because you don’t have a use for an old chair doesn’t mean that someone else cant benefit from it. Gifting old furniture to donation centers or a charitable organization is a good way to repurpose items that you don’t need anymore, especially if the piece of furniture was still in good condition. Giving furniture to charity is probably the best way to deal with items you no longer need.
Start with disassembly
Before you dispose of the old chair, you will need to fully disassemble it. By taking it apart, it will be easier to dispose of and you will be able to repurpose some parts that might still be perfectly functional. It is pretty easy to fully disassemble an office chair and taking this step will save you a lot of time and effort on disposal.
Recycle the old office chair
Various parts of the old office furniture might be recyclable. These office furniture pieces often contain plastics from components, fittings, and castors that can be melted and re-used to make other recycled office furniture.
The metal items like the frame and chair base are also recyclable into aluminum lawn furniture or other commercial furniture and goods. Even the fabric or sponge used in the seat and backrest can sometimes be re-used for stuffing in new upholstered furniture items.
It is always important to first hear from a recycling center about the possibilities of reusing some materials.
Take the chair to a scrap dealer
Office furniture that contains plenty of metal is often welcomed by scrap metal companies. You can take your broken office furniture, along with any other old scrap metal on your property, and sell these items to a scrap metal dealer that will be happy to compensate you based on the types and weight of the metal you deliver.
Leave the office chair at the curb
In some cities or countries, it is perfectly fine to leave old furniture by the curb on a normal collection day so others who might find these items useful can collect and use them before they are tossed away. If no one collects the office furniture after a while, the dump trucks will do curbside pickups and collect it to take it to landfills for recycling.
Before you take the unwanted furniture out of your home, you should check your curbside disposal services. In some cities, they do not accept unwanted furniture at the curb at all and might even fine you if you are caught leaving trash or broken items out and about.
Haul the chair to the landfills
Broken furniture items can usually be discarded at your local landfill along with any other household or office trash you might want to dispose of. It is best to disassemble the unwanted item before you haul it away to the landfills. This way it will easily fit in trash cans and trash company workers won’t have to struggle with dissembling.
Toss it in your rented dumpster or bin
After assembling a small office chair like a task chair, it will very likely fit into a skip bin or even your average roll-off dumpster that you can hire from a junk removal company. These dumpsters make it pretty easy to clear these old items and other old worn-out office furniture pieces off your property since these items will be removed by junk removal service when they empty the bins.
Final Thoughts
We do hope that this guide helped you learn how to dispose of office chairs so you can clear up some space for a new quality chair that will serve you well for the next couple of years. You should keep an eye on the buying guides and product reviews we have on ChairsWiki because our guides will help you find a quality replacement office chair at an affordable price in no time at all. With our handy guide, you can easily locate the highest quality chairs at the best possible prices without having to travel to furniture stores.
