De-densifying is the latest buzzword to fill our social feeds and news headlines, joining terms like social distancing and flattening the curve as the language of the pandemic. And like these other trendy phrases, it's not always easy understanding what "de-densifying" means in black and white terms. 

For some, de-densification involves telework for the foreseeable future. But for a larger majority, it requires a total transformation of the workspace, breaking down collaborative desks into individual workstations. 

If your headquarters are taking this route when de-densifying the office, you are probably are shopping for new office equipment that will help you keep safe physical distances between employees. But what will you do with the old equipment that no longer fits your space?

If you were thinking of liquidating it, you would be making a big mistake.

Why is Liquidation a Big Mistake?

Liquidating, or throwing out used office furniture into a landfill, is a mistake for many reasons. 

1. Cost. Tossing enough furniture to fill 20,000 square feet of office space or more doesn't come cheap. And with tipping fees rising each year, you'll pay more to throw these items out than any return from resale.

2. Environmental Impact. Your desks, chairs, and partitions will join the 8.5 million tons of office assets that wind up in U.S. landfills each year. 

Not only does this take up valuable space, but it also creates an unnecessary environmental hazard by producing carbon emissions and toxic waste that recycled office furniture does not.

How Can an Office Decommission Service Help?

Conventional liquidators will try to resell about 10-20% of an inventory and whatever they can't resell is sent to the landfill on your dime. With that, you are paying thousands of dollars just to throw out those items rather than a more comprehensive approach that extends the lifecycle of your assets. This is wasteful. 

The right office decommission service taps into the circular economy, offering a three-part strategy. 

1. Resale. At first, they try to sell office furniture to generate as much revenue to fold back into your budget. The top decommission service has a broad network of companies that buy used office furniture to ensure you earn fair market value on your items. 

2. Donation. What they can't sell will be donated to charities in need of used office furniture. Your donation will save the lion's share of your remaining assets from the landfill. This gives you a two-part opportunity to generate good press for your company. Not only can you share stories about the charities you've helped, but you can also share the environmental gains of your decommission.

3. Recycling. The few items that remain won't go to the landfill. Instead, an eco-friendly decommission service will send them to the appropriate recycling plant. This re-introduces natural resources into the manufacturing process so that it stays out of waste streams. 

Compared to straight liquidation, diverting furniture waste from the landfill through sales, donations, and recycling makes sense and it doesn't have to cost more. There's a chance you can generate serious revenue for your de-densification project, not to mention the PR opportunities of sharing your success stories. 

Bottom Line

The ongoing pandemic will cause major shifts in your corporate headquarters, and the need to de-densify is just one of them. 

If you have a big inventory of used office furniture after you de-densify your HQ, don't liquidate it. An experienced office decommission service ensures these assets do more good than they could ever do in a landfill.