These days, all the major office furniture manufacturers are trying to make their products easier on the planet. They use components that are made of pre or post-consumer recycled materials. They incorporate more recyclable materials. They use fewer components and fewer types of materials. They make their furniture easier to take apart. They use less packaging and more environmentally friendly and biodegradable packing materials.

Maxon, Max Off

Maxon does all these things and goes a step further, providing disassembly instructions for some of their most popular products. These guides are a lot simpler than the assembly instructions! The diagrams are clearly labeled showing each component so you know what material it is. This makes it easy to sort the steel from the aluminum and the nylon from the ABS plastic. You might even check the commodities market to see what those zinc glide towers are worth. They might fetch as much as a dollar a pound!

It’s Hammer Time!

The instructions also tell you what tools you’ll need such as a hammer, wrench, pliers, and Philips head screwdriver. If your employees really didn’t like working in those Maxon cubicles, we imagine they could have quite a party tearing them apart. It might be cathartic. But only if they like the new workstations you buy next. You don’t want your employees to get in the habit of tearing up company property…

What about when you’ve completed disassembly?

Go to the EPA website to find the contact for your regional coordinator. They should be able to tell you about local waste recycling programs. Of course, if your office furniture is in OK condition and you live in the San Diego area, we might be interested in buying it. Then, you don’t have to worry about disassembly at all – we’ll come pick it up for refurbishing.