Office furniture is depreciated for tax purposes after 13 years. That doesn't mean it's broken. Precisely in this gap between book value and actual condition lies a market that is largely unorganized. Thilo Weinland, responsible for the Dortmund and Munich locations at Projekt Partner, has been working in office furnishing for over 30 years, and for about three, he has specifically focused on what happens to all the items he has brought into buildings during that time. In this interview, he explains why reuse depends on data, not goodwill.
Key Takeaways
- Office furniture is considered depreciated after 13 years — the actual condition has nothing to do with this (Depreciation Table, Federal Ministry of Finance).
- Hybrid work and space reduction have been releasing large quantities of intact existing furniture since 2019/2020, which have largely remained unseen until now.
- Without in-depth data (material, color code, condition), designers lack the confidence to integrate an existing item into a new concept.
- Supply and demand are out of sync: Those who only look for existing inventory when they need it will be too late — scouting must happen beforehand.
What the circular economy specifically means for office furniture
The circular economy for office furniture describes a process where existing items are checked for reusability before any new procurement — either as a complete product or in their individual parts, such as solid wood tabletops or metal frames. A prerequisite for this is an inventory assessment, which documents material, condition, and quantity before a relocation or renovation process begins. seventhings provides the data infrastructure for this first step.
Weinland now places this step at the beginning of every project: “Right at the start, we ask the client: What about your existing items? You have assets. We should look at them together and consider if they can be part of the new design.” Only then does the classic planning process follow — with the difference that part of the inventory is already established.
Why so much inventory is being released right now
Since the pandemic, companies have been significantly reducing their office space because hybrid work has changed space requirements. As a result, furniture from 2019 to 2021 is often still in good condition on the market, but it's scattered across individual locations and not centrally recorded anywhere.
“That's putting a lot of inventory on the market,” says Weinland. “Items acquired in 2019, 2020, and even 2021 — back then, people simply didn't believe that space utilization would change so drastically. This inventory is out there, much of it in good condition, just dispersed. The goal is to make it visible first.”
The accounting reality exacerbates the problem: According to the depreciation table for generally usable fixed assets, office furniture is considered fully depreciated after 13 years. The book value, therefore, says nothing about its actual usability — a table that has stood in a well-maintained office for ten years is rarely technically worn out.
How much office furniture is truly unusable after 13 years? The Federal Ministry of Finance's depreciation table sets a useful life of 13 years for office furniture — this is a tax depreciation period, not a technical expiry date. Solid wood tabletops or metal frames often remain functional for significantly longer. seventhings records the actual condition of existing furniture, independent of its book value, to make this difference visible.
The Circularity Loop: An additional step before the move
Projekt Partner introduces an additional phase before the actual relocation or renovation process: scouting. This involves checking what is actually present at a location, in what condition, and whether reuse makes sense.
"We introduce another round of circularity before we enter the classic process," Weinland explains. "The assets we work with, and the question of what we need to do beforehand to be able to reuse them — that's new."
This brings new tasks that were previously not part of the classic relocation business: cleaning, refurbishment, and sometimes repairs by craft businesses that usually produce rather than restore. And a schedule that accounts for processing times. "I can't say: You leave your workplace on Friday, and it's ready to go on Monday. Some things have processing times. I have to factor that in."
Why data depth determines reuse
The point at which Weinland encountered seventhings was not a general search for software, but a specific data gap: How do you describe an existing asset precisely enough for a planner to confidently integrate it into a new concept?
"A very simple case: If I describe a product today, a brown chair with a black frame — for a creative person, the immediate question is: Which brown do you mean? Is there an RAL shade, a reference, ideally the original sample for comparison? This certainty through data depth makes all the difference."
What data is needed to reuse existing furniture? For a reliable reuse decision, simply stating "brown chair" is not enough. Planners need material, color code (e.g., RAL), and ideally a reference sample to safely integrate an object into a new room concept. Without this data depth, every decision remains a risk. seventhings maps precisely this level of detail per asset.
According to Weinland, what was crucial for the collaboration was less a ready-made solution and more the willingness to embark on the journey together:
"The crucial point for me was that you conveyed that you would accompany us on this journey and help us consider what is needed for it."
The Cost Myth: Is buying new really cheaper?
The most common objection to refurbished furniture is economic, not aesthetic. "Isn't buying new perhaps cheaper? That's probably the biggest objection you encounter," Weinland admits.
His answer flips the investment logic: when it comes to capital goods, companies should ask whether a product that fulfills its function today will still do so tomorrow — and whether the investment is thus smaller than a complete new acquisition. For this equation to work out at all, Susanne Reuß says one thing is primarily needed:
“I can only make a sound business decision if I have good data.”
For Weinland, the comparison with private purchasing decisions is apt: when buying a car, you automatically consider the brand, service network, and spare parts availability for years to come.
“That hasn’t been the case in the furnishing industry so far. We need to develop a system where the customer says: I’m investing here, and I’m getting the corresponding value in return.”
CO₂ Metrics: Useful for Trust, Not the Primary Driver
Refurbished furniture saves CO₂ compared to new products — a figure that increasingly appears in business cases when sustainability targets originate from the board. Weinland assesses this value soberly, rather than overstating it:
“The question is how you evaluate it. If someone says it’s 10 euros, I know what I can buy with that. But with CO₂ savings, there’s often no intuitive understanding of its value.”
For him, the metric is primarily a tool for building trust with stakeholders, not an end in itself:
“If we’ve spent less by using refurbished furniture, helped the environment, and documented that with a metric like CO₂ emissions, we can demonstrate the project’s success.”
His conclusion regarding the target is pragmatic: don't aim for a fixed limit, but save as much as reasonably possible.
Is CO₂ saving through furniture refurbishment a sustainability metric or a business argument? “Both, with different weight,” says Susanne Reuß. The metric makes a decision already made comprehensible for stakeholders and provides evidence to the board. However, it does not replace the actual basis of the decision: a reliable inventory database. This is precisely what seventhings provides for ESG and DPP reporting.
Supply and Demand Are Out of Sync
A practical problem further slows down the market: reusable furniture isn't available on demand. “If someone says in January, ‘I’d like to use existing furniture because I find it economically and ecologically sensible’ — the right offer might not be available at that moment. It might only become available in four, eight, or ten weeks. Then the deal falls through,” Weinland explains the gap.
His conclusion: inventories must be recorded before they even become available. “We need to proactively survey inventories, even at a point when they aren’t yet on offer — but we know where they are.” Only then can a customer be told today that a specific item will be available in a year.
Why do deals for refurbished office furniture often fail due to timing? Demand for existing furniture usually arises at short notice, while preparation and provision can take weeks. Without ongoing inventory tracking, demand cannot be matched in time with available but not yet visible supply. A continuously maintained asset database closes this gap by making inventories visible before demand arises.
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