Susan Randall, Sustainable Solutions Advisor at Rype Office, gives an insight into how CIWM has led the way in circular economy furniture across two office moves in seven years.
Over the last seven years, CIWM (Chartered Institution of Wastes Management) has quietly led the way in sustainable office fit-outs, particularly circular-economy furniture. This has reduced costs, environmental impact and waste.
2019 office move
For its 2019 office move, CIWM employed the principles of the waste hierarchy, reusing where possible and using remanufactured furniture and items manufactured from waste materials for the rest.
CIWM sought a professional, modern space that inspired people and reflected its ethos of resource efficiency, sustainability, and the circular economy.
Rype Office, an award-winning British sustainable office design and furniture remanufacturing company, was appointed to assist, and they immediately conducted a review of existing furniture.
The design for the new office was developed incorporating existing furniture where suitable, externally sourced and remanufactured items, and furniture made from recycled/sustainable materials by local companies.
Externally sourced used furniture came from Amazon’s UK office, advertising and PR firm WPP, and Marks and Spencer’s head office. This was remanufactured by Rype back to new condition in a quality-controlled engineering process.
The boardroom table was made from recycled post-consumer waste yoghurt pots. Coffee tabletops were made from recycled kitchen cutting boards. Booth frames were manufactured by the Merthyr Tydfil Institute for the Blind (MTIB).
By choosing circular economy furniture, CIWM saved money and avoided 7,600 kg CO2e carbon emissions compared to all new, while avoiding 2.6 tonnes of office furniture going to waste. For the flooring, 78.7% of the carpet tiles in the office were reused or recycled.
Existing furniture that was not suited to the new office was donated to the Northampton School for Girls, Derby Sea Cadets, Disability Network, Madani School Federation, Deaf Blind Conference Organisation, NHS Leicester, and the British Heart Foundation. Much of this was co-ordinated through CollectEco.
In 2025, CIWM relocated within the same building, with Rype Office designing, constructing and furnishing the new space. Because CIWM chose high-quality furniture in 2019, 100% of the furniture in the new office came from the old office.
More than 90% of the flooring was reused, which saved a lot of money and avoided 3,000 kg CO2e embodied carbon emissions. Furniture not used in the new office was remanufactured by Rype for further use.
2026 chair upgrade
In 2026, CIWM decided to upgrade their task chairs to Rype Zeros and make sure their existing task chairs were remanufactured again for another life, avoiding waste.
The Rype Zero leads the way in ergonomic, low-carbon and sustainable task chair design. Developed in collaboration with Brunel University, this chair provides extraordinary comfort and support without the environmental or financial costs associated with new chairs made from virgin resources. It is used by JLL’s Manchester office, Transport for Wales’ head office and the Howard de Walden Estate’s HQ.
The mechanism, base, arms and shell of the Rype Zero are from the award-winning Giroflex 64 chair. Rype remanufactures G64 parts in the UK using a quality-controlled engineering process to return them to as-new condition and add to them seat and back pads that have been redesigned for greater comfort and a modern aesthetic.
The G64 chairs, which Rype remanufactured into Zeros for CIWM, came from Nomad Foods UK Headquarters. CIWM’s replaced chairs have been remanufactured again and are now serving the offices of Heathrow and Greenwood Place. Choosing Rype Zeros avoided 1,630 kgCO2e of carbon emissions compared to buying chairs made from virgin resources.
Commenting on the projects, Dr Greg Lavery, Rype Office CEO, said: “CIWM has embraced the circular economy and made substantial cost and environmental savings – all without compromising on aesthetics or ergonomics. They have a wonderful office that embodies their commitment to transitioning the world to a more circular approach.”