Office furniture manufacturers have become increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of the products they create. They are turning to raw materials that are readily available and naturally renewable, utilising recycled materials, and even coming up with innovative new materials for their sustainable office furniture designs.
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In this blog post, we look at some of the most sustainable materials office furniture manufacturers use today to create high-quality products that are built to last.
1. Wood
Wood has always been a popular material for office furniture, often used for workstations and chair bases. If sustainably sourced, wood is one of the most environmentally friendly materials available as it is infinitely renewable and acts as a carbon store, giving it an important role in reducing carbon emissions.
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) labels exist to give customers confidence that the wood used originates from sustainably managed forests that are carefully handled and replenished to prevent damage to ecosystems.
Types of wood that may be used include:
- Pine - It grows fast, is widely available, and regenerates and stores carbon quickly.
- Oak - As oak trees are brilliant absorbers of carbon dioxide, responsibly sourced oak is deemed carbon neutral.
- Beech - The volume of beech harvested is lower than new growth, which makes it more sustainable than woods with a decreasing population.
Reclaimed wood sourced from old buildings, barns, and other structures is another way wood is repurposed into stylish, high-quality office furniture. This sustainable material reduces the demand for virgin timber and gives new life to materials that would otherwise end up in landfills.
In office environments, reclaimed wood adds a warm, rustic aesthetic, promoting a connection to nature that can enhance employee well-being and reduce stress. Its durability also ensures longevity, making it a cost-effective and eco-friendly choice for businesses committed to sustainability.
At the other end of the scale, 'fake' woods, such as particleboard, MDF and plywood, can emit harmful gases due to the adhesives used in manufacturing.
2. Bamboo
Technically speaking, bamboo is a tree-like grass rather than wood. And it can grow much faster than wood, making it one of the best sustainable resources for office furniture. Some species of bamboo can grow up to 36 inches every day. This means it can reach its full size between one to five years compared to most other trees that can take a decade or more to grow.
Bamboo also plays an important role in reducing carbon footprint as it absorbs carbon from the environment and releases high oxygen levels into the atmosphere.
Aside from its sustainability credentials, bamboo is a great choice for office furniture. It's lightweight, making it easy to move around as required, and is extremely durable. Plus, it looks fantastic and can boost the overall aesthetic of your office space.
Frovi's modular shelving range is created with pressed bamboo and recycled ocean plastic and felt.
3. Natural fabrics
Natural fabrics like wool, hemp and linen are not only sustainable but also have organic, textural interest, which provides a calming aesthetic for the office. It's even possible to repurpose existing chairs by reupholstering them in these fabrics, rather than buying new.
- Wool has been used as a sustainable option for a long time. As well as being a renewable material, it is also naturally flame retardant and heat-regulating.
- Hemp is another great choice as the plant is extremely versatile and relatively undemanding to cultivate. Like wool, it also has natural heat-regulating properties. As manufacturing from 100% hemp can be costly, it is often blended with other materials to create sustainable textiles and covers. A lot of the final fabric also consists of cotton or silk, which also makes it softer.
- Linen is another natural fabric that's becoming increasingly used in furniture. It's strong, versatile and fully biodegradable.
4. Steel
Steel is classed as a sustainable material for a number of reasons. It's strong, meaning you don't need a lot of it. It can be reused infinite times, making it endlessly recyclable. It takes very little energy to produce, and it's also not toxic to people or the environment.
For all these reasons, it's a popular choice for chair bases. Many of Viccarbe's office chairs, including the Aleta chairs, have the option of a steel base.
5. Aluminium
Like steel, aluminium can be infinitely recycled. Recycling aluminium also saves 95% of the energy used in its production from raw materials.
The Orangebox Eva chair is made from an aluminium base.
6. Recycled materials
Recycled materials are also sustainable as they don't rely on non-renewable resources. New materials require fresh raw materials to be sourced and created for the first time, rather than reusing materials that can be recycled again at the end of their lives.
Office furniture manufacturers are embracing the new design possibilities that recycled materials offer to reduce the carbon emissions associated with producing furniture items.
For example, the base and back frame of the Steelcase Think chair is made from recycled glass fiber. Steelcase's 'Ocean to Office' initiative also sees them using plastics dumped in the sea to weave new, durable and aesthetically unique materials for use in acoustic screening.
The Kirn chair by Orangebox is made from 100% recycled polymer feedstock, a durable material that produces 97% less CO2 in its processing than virgin plastics of the same type.
Modus furniture also use recycled materials to create sustainable products. The Richard chair is made from 100% recycled pressed PET felt shell and powder coated steel tube legs. And the Michael stool is crafted from 100% recycled cork from the waste produced when manufacturing wine corks.
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7. Bio-based plastics
Bio-based plastics are derived from renewable sources such as corn starch, sugarcane, and other plant materials, offering a more sustainable alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastics.
These eco-friendly materials are increasingly used in commercial furniture, offering similar durability and flexibility without a heavy environmental footprint. Bio-based plastics contribute to reducing carbon emissions and dependency on fossil fuels, which aligns with corporate sustainability goals.
Additionally, furniture made from these materials can improve indoor air quality by minimising the release of harmful chemicals over time, thus supporting a healthier work environment for employees.
8. Innovative materials
As manufacturers look for more sustainable ways to produce office furniture, new material alternatives are being invented all the time.
Mushroom mycelium has been hailed as a sustainable material of the future. It has several valuable properties as a manufacturing material as it can grow into almost any shape and can vary in density. It acts as an insulator for sound and heat and is even fire resistant. Some of the first furniture products launched using mycelium included stools and tables created by Ecovative and bioMASON, two companies that specialise in making sustainable alternatives for consumer goods.
Meanwhile, the world's first carbon-negative chair was made with AirCarbon, a revolutionary thermoplastic developed by Newlight Technologies.
And more recently, Steelcase launched the new Flex Perch Stool, made from post-consumer electronics production waste - which was once impossible to recycle into like-new raw material.
Carbon offsetting in sustainable furniture manufacturing
While furniture manufacturers are making significant strides in reducing their environmental impact by using sustainable materials, some carbon emissions remain unavoidable in the production process.
To mitigate these emissions, leading companies like Steelcase are turning to carbon offsetting as a key strategy. Carbon offsetting involves investing in sustainability projects that contribute to neutralising the carbon footprint of a product.
Their carbon-neutral chair range, for example, has a CarbonNeutral® product certification because the company is offsetting the footprint associated with producing products like chairs by investing in high-impact projects such as reforestation, renewable energy, and energy efficiency initiatives, ensuring that the environmental impact of their products is minimised.
Summary
The environmental impact a piece of furniture will have depends on what happens at the beginning of its life cycle during the design process. Creating sustainable office furniture all starts with first choosing sustainable materials.
Choosing products made from renewable materials like wood, bamboo and wool or sustainable metals is an excellent place to start. But recycled materials are always going to be more sustainable than fresh materials. And as manufacturers and designers continue to put sustainability at the forefront of the design process, we can expect to see more innovative sustainable materials being used in future design and more carbon-neutral products being produced.
Download our free Sustainable Office guide for more insights, or learn more about our Sustainable Office Furniture Solutions now.
Editors note: This post was originally published in and republished in for relevance and accuracy.
Furniture is one of the most important parts of remodeling or redesigning a home, but it can also have a huge impact on the environment. How? The materials used to make our day-to-day furniture can affect the amount of natural resources, waste generated, and the bad emissions released during gathering, production, and transportation.
Thats why opting for eco-friendly and sustainable materials for furniture like table accessories can help a lot reduce the environmental footprint of your house while contributing to a healthier planet. In this article, we will explore some of the top options available and some extra tips.
What are eco-friendly and sustainable materials for furniture?
Eco-friendly and sustainable materials have a low impact on our environment, either because they are made from recycled and renewable sources, or because they last long and are durable. Those are important points to keep in mind while buying table tops or any other furniture.
A good example is wood, this material is an all-time favorite for sustainable and eco-enthusiast when it comes from a sustainable source. This means all wood that comes from sustainable and responsible logging, from companies that play a huge role in eco-friendly activities.
Using eco-friendly materials for furniture has a lot of benefits, and some of them are:
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- By using materials or furniture made by eco-friendly companies, youll be supporting sustainable and responsible logging, which is a good alternative to minimize the impact of deforestation.
- Other sustainable materials conserve natural resources by using alternative materials, repurposing, and recycling.
- Help to reduce pollution and water by using biodegradable and recycled materials that can be composted or repurposed at the end of their use.
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by using production processes that are low in energy or reducing transportation.
- Improve indoor air quality and wellness by not using toxic chemicals or volatile compounds.
Some examples of eco-friendly and sustainable materials are:
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Bamboo: Many people say that bamboo is the ultimate sustainable material for furniture due to several pros, like how fast it grows and the fact that you dont kill the plant in order to harvest it. Bamboo is strong, lightweight, and malleable and has a lot of applications in furniture. Not only that, its durable, resistant and biodegradable.
Recycled wood: Recycled wood is wood waste that can be collected from various sources, like old furniture, and is usually recycled to give it a new life in other places or used to make frames or panels. Its a great option since wood is a long-lasting material, which means it retains the natural beauty, reduces wood waste in landfills, and saves trees from being cut down.
Recycled plastic: This sustainable material is good for tackling the plastic issue and helps a lot in reducing the amount of plastic waste that will end IP in landfills or oceans, but some people are against it due to the process of making a new product. Recycled plastic can be used to make furniture frames, fabrics, panels, and other items. Some good draws about it, is how durable plastic is, resistant to weather, and easy to clean.
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