ABSTRACT

Household furniture and appliances are classified as 'bulky waste' in the waste management sector. This chapter provides an overview of household bulky waste disposal and reuse activities in the UK and the contribution made by furniture and appliance reuse to extending product life-spans. Using analysis based on questionnaires, interviews with local authority officers and visits to reuse organizations, the different methods for discarding bulky household items are discussed and reuse levels estimated. The potential to increase the number of items diverted for reuse is assessed; in particular, the role of furniture and appliance reuse projects in the voluntary and community sector. These capture a substantial portion of items that would otherwise be sent to landfill and forward them to people in need. The chapter highlights the social dimension to reuse. Removing items from the waste stream helps tackle the problem of increasing waste generation and extending their life-spans slows the rate of virgin resource consumption. These environmental benefits are, however, widely regarded within the sector as secondaiy to the social benefits to volunteers employed by reuse organizations and low income households provided with basic household items.