5 Ways to Dispose of a Sofa

Disposing of your old sofa or armchair is not as easy or as cheap as it used to be.  Recent changes to the law mean that upholstered furniture can no longer be disposed of in land fill and must be incinerated at waste to energy plants.  This has increased the cost of disposal.

There are also the environmental factors to consider when deciding how to get rid of your old upholstered furniture, not least because incinerating counts as “recycling” even though it emits huge amounts of greenhouse gases.

Here are some of your options for disposing of a sofa.

1. Donate or sell it

2. Take it to the local tip

3. Council collection 

4. Pay a licensed waste collector

5. Collection by a sofa retailer

1.  Reuse (or sell) your sofa 

An estimated 1,000,000 sofas are reused in the UK each year. This is about one-fifth of all sofas that have reached the end of their life.  If your unwanted sofa is still in good condition then hopefully you will consider reusing it rather than disposal.

You can donate or sell your sofa directly to someone or indirectly by passing it on to a charity retailer who then resells or donates it to someone else. Either way, the sofa will be reused rather than be destroyed.

To make this easier, if you book Waste Not’s House Clearance service, we will take any donated furniture to your charity retailer for free.  We also repurpose as much as we can

However, beware that charities will only take your sofa if it has a FIRE SAFETY certificate. This is because businesses are not legally allowed to sell furniture without a fire label.  

The following major charities accept sofa donations:

2.  Take it to the local tip

Household Waste Recycling Centres or your ‘local tip’, accept old sofas.  You can find their address and opening hours by contacting your local council.

The biggest issue with taking your sofa to your local HWRC is how you’ll fit your sofa in your car.  Sofas are hard enough to get into your house, let alone out again in one piece.  The only option is hiring a van with the additional cost and hassle associated with it. However, bear in mind that some council tips don't allow vans access and you still need to get the sofa out of your house into the van!

Every Waste Not furniture removal van comes with a two person team that will be happy to collect your sofa from inside your property.

3.Council collection

Most councils have a bulk waste collection service.  Prices vary from free to £75. Although relatively cheap, the major downside of the council bulky waste collection service is speed and convenience.  Many take weeks to come and very few collect from within the property.

You also need to leave your sofa outside your property and keep it dry!

4. Pay a licensed waste collector to take it away

If you don't fancy waiting for the council, would like the sofa collected from inside your property, or maybe have a few other things to dispose of at the same time, then you will need a waste collector.

But make sure they are licensed, as a waste carrier and properly insured. Bulky waste collection is an industry renowned for cowboy operators who charge cheaply only to dump your old sofa illegally in a field or layby. 

At Waste Not we are fully licensed by the Environmental Agency and have a whopping £5,000,000 of insurance cover in the unlikely event something goes wrong.  Our Furniture removal service is also the most sustainable in the business and has the lowest call out charge.

5. Pay your new sofa retailer to take it away

Some furniture retailers offer a take-back service for your old sofa when you buy a new one from them.  Prices range from £80 to £150. Dunelm charges £80 to remove a 2 seater sofa. Whereas DFS tops the list with an extraordinary £129!