ABSTRACT
Furniture is coming under increasing environmental scrutiny. Design issues relating to furniture can be divided into two areas. The first critical area is product-specific and relates to ecodesign objectives that need to be addressed wherever practicable, possible and desirable in the design of the product itself. The second critical area is system-wide and concerns the development and implementation of corporate strategies and services that can exploit many of the product-specific ecodesign features that are likely to be embodied in the product. Environmental impacts during the production stage can be minimised through the careful specification of materials and processes. This will involve the design team working closely with production staff and suppliers. Relatively complex products such as ergonomic seating will need to be disassembled so that components can be easily removed for repair or refurbishment. Similarly, design for disassembly will enable materials to be more easily separated, identified and sorted for recycling.
