When is the refurbishment of used furniture environmentally sound and economically viable? The FuRefu research project at the Institut für Holztechnologie Dresden (IHD) is investigating this question. It is conducting an assessment of existing initiatives by German manufacturers and service providers. The focus is on seating furniture, primarily for non-residential and educational settings. The study examines the conditions under which putting such furniture into a circular economy can contribute to resource efficiency, climate protection and decarbonisation.
Standardised questionnaires and guided interviews with furniture manufacturers, trade associations, logistics providers, local authorities and other stakeholders are used to identify the prerequisites for a circular economy approach. Repair, refurbishment and the manufacture of new products from used furniture or components (remanufacturing) are being tested on seating furniture from at least four specific sites. The work is to be carried out locally or regionally, close to the current or future place of use.
For the environmental assessment, life cycle assessments of brand-new products are compared with those of repaired and refurbished products. This is based on existing or newly compiled life cycle assessments and environmental declarations. The actual costs of repair and refurbishment are recorded; energy, material quantities and CO₂ equivalents are taken into account. From this, a uniform approach to life cycle assessment of the seating furniture under investigation is derived.
The result is an assessment framework that provides manufacturers with relevant criteria and evidence for the evaluation of the circularity of their furniture. Factors taken into account include product design conducive to refurbishment, materials and the availability of spare parts, as well as production sites, logistics, partner networks, customer base, order size and demand. In this way, FuRefu establishes a foundation for developing economically viable and environmentally sound refurbishment services and for strengthening regional cooperation.
The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action under reference number 49MF250150 as part of the funding programme “Promotion of Innovation Competence – INNOKOM 2023, Module: Market-Oriented Research and Development”.
Contact person(s) at the IHD:
Oliver Bumbel
oliver.bumbel@ihd-dresden.de
