UK Sofa Disposal Statistics: How Many Sofas Go to Landfill Each Year?

No reliable national figure exists for how many sofas go to landfill in the UK each year, and our report declines to invent one: bulky waste is recorded by weight and by management route rather than counted by item, so sofas are never separated out in published statistics. What can be established is why they end up there. A sofa is a composite product combining timber frame, metal springs, foam, textile and chemical fire treatment, and separating those materials is labour intensive while the recovered materials hold modest value. Restrictions on treating certain fire retardant chemicals have narrowed the routes further. We also find that the single detail deciding a used sofa's fate is its permanent fire safety label, since reuse organisations generally cannot accept an item without one. Furniture in Fashion sets out every disposal route available to UK households, the conditions attached to each, and why longevity is decided at the point of purchase....