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Published by Programme B
If your staff aren’t regularly going into the office — or you’ve adopted staggered shifts— there’s no value in hanging onto your office space. Yesterday’s pre-COVID square footage is too large for your needs today, so downsizing just makes good financial sense.
Switching out an enormous office for a cozy HQ comes with the obvious cost-benefit of slashing your overhead costs, but there are more advantages to making a move. A sustainable office decommission helps you unearth financial, social, and environmental opportunities.
What is a Sustainable Office Decommission?
A sustainable office decommission is an alternative to traditional liquidation methods. Popular liquidation services strive to sell as much of your inventory as possible, but they don’t see the potential in any item that remains. Your surplus inventory winds up in the landfill as a result.
The used office furniture experts at Green Standards say it’s time to shake up this old way of thinking about used office furniture. That’s because many of the typical items you can’t sell are in perfectly good shape and can lead a second life elsewhere.
A sustainable office decommissions firm will attempt to donate old office furniture to non-profits in need. If there’s still salvageable inventory, the firm will then send what can be recycled to the appropriate processing plant. Any items that wind up in a landfill do so as a last resort.
The Financial Upside
First and foremost, the financial benefits come as two-fold. Not only will you generate revenue from the sale of your used office furniture, but you’ll also save on tipping fees.
Tipping fees are the cost to discard items at your local landfill. Generally speaking, they’re set by weight, so the less you throw out, the less you pay.
The Social Benefits
The charitable sector is under significant strain during this pandemic. Their services have never been more important at a time when fewer people can donate to their cause.
Last year, two-thirds of charities saw their revenues drop by nearly one third. With margins like these, non-profits and charities don’t have the programming dollars to purchase new furniture and equipment, no matter how much they may need a refresh.
The free office furniture donated by your company may be the only way they can update their offices.
Your in-kind donation gives them the tools they need to support, and it preserves their budget for what really counts. They can focus on supporting their communities, and you can produce good news stories about your partnership.
The Environmental Advantage
The traditional liquidation method is a paradigm of the linear economy. When you no longer need something, you throw it out. At a landfill, it takes up valuable space, locks up resources, and potentially leaks toxic materials into the surrounding areas.
A sustainable office decommission firm takes its cues from the circular economy, which tries to divert as much waste from landfills as possible. Keeping your inventory in use for longer takes some of the pressure of waste streams.
Most obviously, fewer pieces get sent to the landfill, but there’s also a chain reaction in store for the manufacturing chains. A sustainable office decommission firm will recycle any item they can’t sell or donate. This gives manufacturers a chance to reuse materials and reduce energy output.
The Takeaway
In an age when your staff aren’t regularly going into the office, downsizing is a cause for celebration rather than concern. Your relocation is an opportunity to save money, do some good, and protect the environment.