Furbicle, a company that was created in the silicon valley of India in 2021, is directing your old furniture to different homes instead of the endless heaps of trash in the landfills.
A one of a kind idea: refurbishing inoperative furniture and giving it a new look to be sold to the country at affordable rates- something that had not been done anywhere around the world till now. Even the leading furniture or home decor brands of the world have only estimated to establish a circular business by 2030.
F-waste: Another dustbin needed?
Before we get into this innovative venture, let’s get to know a little about furniture waste or f-waste:
A kind of waste that does not usually get much attention because it is generated less frequently than other wastes. But it is equally harmful nonetheless, since a single unit might be made from different materials, making it difficult to recycle. Other than wood, furniture might also contain plastic, metal, foam, and fabric; so separating the materials- an important aspect of recycling can prove to be a tedious task, often skipped by the junk collectors.
With the Covid-19 pandemic changing the work environment in the entire world, millennials have bought much more furniture in the past year to fit the work-from-home scenario. This, in turn, would increase the number of these purchases being thrown into waste in the coming years. Also, with aesthetically pleasing home decor being shown in the media more and more, the Indian houses are upgrading their interior by buying more home decor items, often made from cheap materials, not meant to last long. This is accelerating the climate change- more deforestation, and more use of formaldehyde- a gas that can be present in resin used as a glue to make pressed wood products stick together. While environmentalists are trying to make the general public aware of the grave consequences of these actions, most brands are mindlessly manufacturing more and more cheap furniture that is not durable.
Furbicle outsources objects like beds, tables, sofas etc from different places and those are worked on by their skilled craftsmen, giving them a modern look and style, different from the old school expensive, bulky, and flimsy furniture we are used to. In this process, the company also works towards reducing their carbon footprint:
- The gigantic amount of pollution generated in the process of transporting the scrap materials from the offices/households to the dumpsters, and sometimes even farther from there to recycling plants. This process is cut short by sending waste products directly to Furbicle.
- 34% of the Indian population resides in urban areas, this population of 1.38 billion people generates a gigantic 62 million tonnes of waste per year, 4-5% of household waste in landfills is furniture — so we can estimate that in India we generate upto 3.1 million tonnes of furniture waste per year, and it is unfortunate that a very small amount of the waste is actually recycled. Furbicle makes sure that every furniture piece coming to them is recycled and reused.
- While preventing old furniture from adding to the landfills, they also provide value for money to their customers by making their products affordable without compromising with the quality, as a result of which they buy lesser products in the long run, tremendously benefiting the planet by reducing wastage by a huge margin.
While sustainable substitutes are available around us for many household products, by bringing to us sustainably curated furniture, Furbicle has been a clutter breaking brand. They are associated with Furlenco, one of the first names that comes into mind when talking about rented furniture in the Indian market. With years of experience in this industry, they have built strong capabilities of remanufacturing furniture.
To trust or not to trust
On being asked about the hurdles they face in this business, Furbicle’s Vice President, Mr. Priyank Kanade talked about “consumer category complication”. The customers have a hard time believing they are actually getting sturdy, good quality remanufactured furniture at such low prices. There is also a lack of supply of furniture, usually sourced from different brands’ and manufacturers’ excess production, as well as slightly damaged products. To cope with it, used furniture is also being accepted from various consumers for refurbishment.
Creating a home with sustainability
At the present, Furbicle is remanufacturing electronics as well as home decor along with furniture. They repair and recycle old electronic appliances like TVs, microwaves, refrigerators etc to sell at a price that won’t make your pockets empty. To decorate your home, they offer bedsheets, curtains, table lamps and similar products that are made from organically grown cotton and procured from excess stock in other businesses.
Several of their furniture products have won the CII Design Awards too, as a proof to their fast progress in a relatively lesser time. Furbicle is currently selling in 25-30 cities in India to 2500-3000 customers each month. Their plan is to incorporate the Three R’s of sustainability: Recycle, Reuse, and Reduce in their business and add more furniture as well as home decor and electronics to their product line that follow the Three R’s.
