FDC: Office fit outs get a second chance

For over 10 years, building and construction services company FDC has been going the extra mile to find new homes for used office fit outs.

A long list of not-for-profit and community organisations (including Royal Far West, Giant Steps Autism Centre, Lifeline, Dressed for Success, Rural Fire Service) have enjoyed the benefits of second hand chairs, workstations, cabinets, desks, loose furniture, monitor arms and other office supplies – saving these organisations “tens of thousands” of dollars in some cases, according to FDC sales director Cornelius Hart.

Although the company works on a case-by-case basis to strip out redundant workspaces in the most sustainable way possible, Cornelius says the most rewarding jobs involve “re-purposing” elements of the stripout to a not-for-profit, school or other community organisation because these savings can provide amenities not normally affordable, plus ensures their funds go “into front line work instead”.

“We believe there’s a really strong correlation between sustainability, recycling, re-purposing and community.”

FDC serves as a facilitator between the two parties and works hard to keep relocation and installation costs as low as possible for the organisation taking on the product.   FDC’s strong connections to subcontractors, plus its own workforce, often minimise or eliminate costs for the recipient.

It can be difficult to connect stripout product with an organisation that needs it – particularly when it needs to be relocated in a hurry – but the company has spent years building up a contact list so a recipient is found more often than not.

The company is “always on the front foot” to offer these services, and Cornelius says most clients, particularly companies with genuine corporate responsibility benchmarks, rarely say no to recycling and re-purposing their leftover product that would otherwise go to landfill.

Although many sustainable stripout services focus on furniture, FDC takes a waste management approach and will seek to re-home light fittings, telephone handsets and other product that would otherwise become landfill.

Cornelius says that the company has managed to recycle or re-purpose as much as 85 per cent of the product from stripout projects. 

He also stressed that computer equipment that may still contain company data will be disposed of securely / sensitively.