12.1 million
tons of furniture and furnishings entered the U.S. municipal waste stream in 2018.
That was 4.1% of all municipal solid waste generated that year.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyA reference for furniture with a future
Furniture reuse
and waste statistics.
The latest federal figures on what happens to furniture after its useful life, gathered in one clear place for writers, shoppers, makers, and anyone who believes a well-made piece is worth another look.
Last reviewed September 22, 2026. The latest comparable EPA figures are for 2018.
The short version
Old furniture has
more than one next life.
Furniture is not a single material or a single story. It can be solid wood, veneer, metal, fabric, glass, and hardware, often all in one piece. The national figures below describe furniture and furnishings once they have reached the end of primary use and reuse by secondary owners.
That distinction matters. It leaves room for the pieces still being repaired, passed along, donated, resold, or reimagined before they ever enter the municipal waste stream.
U.S. furniture and furnishings
Five figures worth keeping close.
80.1%
of furniture and furnishings was landfilled in 2018.
The EPA table reports 9.68 million tons sent to landfill.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency19.5%
of furniture and furnishings went to combustion with energy recovery in 2018.
That equals 2.36 million tons in the EPA table.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency5.6 times
more furniture and furnishings entered the waste stream in 2018 than in 1960.
EPA reports 2.15 million tons in 1960 and 12.08 million tons in 2018.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency40,000
tons were recorded as recycled in the EPA's 2018 furniture and furnishings table.
EPA notes that measurable recovery data was not available for wood, textiles, and metals, except mattresses.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyHow to read the figures
Useful data,
with an honest edge.
The EPA defines furniture and furnishings to include sofas, tables, chairs, and mattresses. Its 2018 analysis identifies wood as the largest material category in furniture, followed by ferrous metals, with plastics, glass, textiles, and other materials also present.
The agency does not claim a complete measure of every recovery pathway. In particular, it says that measurable recovery data was not accessible for wood, textiles, and metals, except mattresses. That makes the page useful as a national baseline, not a final count of every piece kept in circulation through repair, resale, donation, or creative reuse.
Sources and method
Where these
numbers come from.
Every figure on this page comes from the EPA's furniture and furnishings table in its national materials, waste, and recycling data. The agency uses a materials-flow approach, drawing on government, business, industry, survey, and waste-characterization sources to estimate national totals.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Durable Goods: Product-Specific Data, furniture and furnishings table, 2018 data.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, methodology for its national materials, waste, and recycling figures.
This page was last reviewed on September 22, 2026. It will be refreshed when a newer comparable federal dataset is available.
Citing this page
A steady source
for the footnote.
Suggested citation: Painted Designs by Sondra, “Furniture Reuse & Waste Statistics,” accessed September 22, 2026, drawing on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2018 furniture and furnishings data.
Return to the figures ↑Furniture with a future
Some pieces deserve
another chapter.
When the construction is sound and the details still have something to say, a thoughtful finish can keep a piece useful and unmistakably personal for years to come.