Decommissioning

GROWING ORGANIZATIONS ARE CONSTANTLY MANAGING CHANGE.

When times are tight, they downsize. When times are good, they expand. When their competitive environment shifts, there are mergers, acquisitions and office changes.

When styles grow stale, companies refurbish. For example, high panels for workstations are becoming obsolete. The current trend for workstations is low panels: increasing visibility, communication and collaboration among your team, while allowing more natural light to
your offices.

Current trend for workstations is low panels: increasing visibility, communication and collaboration

IT'S TIME TO DECOMMISSION

The time comes when office furniture must be “decommissioned,” or removed from service.

Clearing your workspace responsibly and efficiently requires a comprehensive plan. You need an organized, professional approach and an experienced team.

Decommissioning services can focus on responsibly and efficiently removing:

  • Workstations
  • Private office furniture
  • Conference room furniture
  • IT hardware and wiring
  • Filing cabinets
  • Furniture from reception areas
  • Common area furniture

DEVELOPING A RESPONSIBLE DECOMMISSIONING PLAN

Decommissioning plans are comprehensive, leveraging four strategies:

  1. Reuse, including selling
  2. Recycling
  3. Repurposing, including donating
  4. Disposal

A responsible plan prioritizes the first three options: reusing, recycling and repurposing.

The fourth strategy – disposing of materials in landfill – is a last resort. Even where it is part of the plan, disposal can minimized with a dedicated investment in labour and separation.

Any or all of the strategies can be used to customize a plan that makes sense for your company’s priorities.

REDUCING YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT – YOUR REPORT

A responsible decommissioning company will produce a report showing you how your items were diverted, giving the weights and percentages of total tonnage.

HOW DOES A RESPONSIBLE DECOMMISSIONING COMPANY SELECT THE RIGHT STRATEGIES?

There are many factors affecting which strategies to leverage, including:

  • Timelines
  • Budget
  • Proximity to recycling facilities
  • Quality of remaining furniture
  • Client’s priorities

DEVELOPING THE PLAN

The plan begins with a comprehensive review of your existing facility – a detailed analysis of the quality and suitability of existing stock – to determine what can be salvaged.

The review will help you to decide what can be retained when moving or refurbishing your premises.

As your plan develops, environmental consciousness is paramount. Decommissioning is an opportunity to practice your company’s environmental mission.

Decommissioning Services

REUSE

How much of your existing furniture can be used in the new space?

Not just chairs and desks, but items such as whiteboards and boardroom tables are particularly apt for reuse.

Some factors may reduce the reusability of your items:

Re-Branding
A company-wide rebrand may mean your old furniture does not match the finishes and colours of your new brand.

Functional Space
What if your concept of a functional space changes? What if you move from private offices to a shared, open concept space? Different approaches will affect how much furniture you can reuse.

Refurbishing

A variation on reuse is refurbishing your old furniture. Your old items can be given a new lease on life with creative refurbishing. Modular office partitions made from fabric, laminate or glass can be reskinned to make them appear like new workstations. Metal components can be recoated to update the finishes and style.

REPURPOSING

How many items can be repurposed?

Repurposing means either re-selling your items or donating them to a charitable organization.

Resale
There is an active re-sale market for furniture, workstations, filing cabinets, tables and other office equipment. As a decommissioning firm, we can often take the items for resale, either by themselves or through a partner organization.

Remember: Reselling can help you offset the decommissioning cost.
Donations
Charities, churches, synagogues, mosques and community centres will accept donated equipment. Their needs are constantly shifting, but we have a list of pre-approved charities that meet certain standards and certification criteria.

RECYCLING

The next responsible option is recycling. Items not suitable for reuse or repurposing through sale or donation can often be recycled for their materials. This includes building materials – metal, cardboard and plastics – that come from your workspace.

What materials can you recycle? How much can you recycle? The types and amounts of items diverted for recycling vary based on the project type.

DISPOSAL

We strive to avoid sending things to landfill as much as possible. However, decommissioning projects still end up throwing away discarded wood or laminate furniture. The disposals add up. Each year, nearly 3 million tons of office furniture is thrown away at a disposal cost of more than $100 million.

LEED LEadership in Energy and Environmental design

LEED Credit System

Reusing existing furniture is recognized by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, a voluntary program recognizing green building practices in Canada and the United States

ELECTRONIC WASTE

DECOMMISSIONING YOUR IT EQUIPMENT

Today, it is impossible to imagine the world without electronics. However, it is essential that your outdated electronic equipment is recycled responsibly to prevent environmental harm.

Your used IT equipment is also a significant part of the decommissioning. A responsible process considers:

  • Responsible recycling through industry-leading programs
  • Data security through secure data destruction services
  • Disposal through IT asset disposal services

One of Track’s partner facilities de-manufactures almost 60 metric tons of e-waste every day.

Decommissioning your IT equipment follows a simple, straightforward and seamless process:

  • Decommissioned IT equipment and e-waste is collected from customer locations and transported to a recycling centre.
  • Once offloaded, the material is weighed and meticulously sorted into two categories: material to be tested and potentially reused, and material to be recycled.
  • Material selected for potential reuse is directed to a technical area. Here devices containing data are moved into a data security area and undergo physical destruction and a digital erasure process certified by RCMP and the US Department of Defense.
  • Equipment is inventoried, tested and sorted into categories before being forwarded to processing partners in the Ontario Electronic Stewardship program.

We focus on destroying your sensitive data responsibly and in accordance with federal regulations.

67 Million

devices have been diverted from landfill since the Ontario Electronic Stewardship was launched in 2009.

Decommissioning Electronic Equipment

Contact Track Furniture

We want to help.

Share your question or comment by filling out the form below. You can also email: info@trackfurniture.com Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

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Location:
498 Markland Street, Unit 4
Markham, ON
L6C 1Z6

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