Feel Good About Your Chair: The Sustainability of the Herman Miller Aeron
When people think about sustainability, they often focus on materials, packaging and recyclability. These factors matter, but for office furniture, one of the most important questions is much simpler:
How long will the product remain useful?
A cheaply made office chair that needs replacing every few years can create far more waste than a high-quality chair designed to perform for decades. The Herman Miller Aeron stands out because sustainability is built into both its materials and its long-term design.
Made with more than 50% recycled material
The Aeron is composed of more than 50% recycled material. Herman Miller has also incorporated ocean-bound plastic into the chair since 2021, helping redirect mismanaged plastic waste that may otherwise reach waterways, oceans or landfill.
Depending on the chair’s configuration, the Aeron can contain between approximately 227 grams and 1.13 kilograms of ocean-bound plastic. Herman Miller estimates this can represent the equivalent of roughly 23 to 114 plastic water bottles per chair.
Rather than treating recycled materials as an afterthought, Herman Miller has continued redesigning parts of the Aeron to reduce material use while maintaining the chair’s performance and durability.
Designed to use less material
The Aeron’s sustainability story is also about dematerialisation—achieving the required strength and performance while using less material.
In 2026, Herman Miller announced a redesigned aluminium base that uses approximately 0.84 kilograms less material than the previous version without compromising durability or performance. Combined with other material changes, Herman Miller estimates that recent improvements have reduced the Aeron’s global average embodied carbon footprint by approximately 12%.
This matters because sustainability is not simply about replacing one material with another. Using fewer resources in the first place can reduce the environmental impact associated with material extraction, manufacturing and transportation.
Up to 90% recyclable
At the end of its usable life, Aeron chairs are designed with material recovery in mind. Herman Miller states that chairs within the Aeron portfolio are up to 90% recyclable.
The chair’s components can also be separated, making it more practical to repair, service and eventually recycle individual materials.
The Aeron was also Herman Miller’s first product to receive Cradle to Cradle Version 3 Silver certification, which considers factors including material health, product circularity, renewable energy, water stewardship and social fairness.
Built to be repaired rather than discarded
One of the Aeron’s strongest environmental advantages is that it is not intended to be a disposable product.
Individual components—including castors, arm pads, lumbar supports and other mechanisms—can be replaced without discarding the entire chair. This modular construction helps extend the useful life of the product and can substantially reduce unnecessary waste.
A chair that can be serviced and kept in use is generally a more responsible choice than one that becomes uneconomical to repair after a single component fails.
Quality that keeps chairs out of landfill
The Aeron was introduced in 1994, and many early examples remain in workplaces and homes today. Its enduring design has also created a strong second-hand and refurbished market.
This matters environmentally because every chair that is reused avoids or delays the need to manufacture a replacement. Herman Miller describes the Aeron’s durability and long service life as a central part of its sustainability approach, noting that quality design helps keep products out of landfill.
Buying a premium chair can therefore be more sustainable than repeatedly replacing lower-quality alternatives.
No conventional foam seat
The Aeron’s Pellicle suspension replaced the conventional foam-and-fabric construction commonly used in office chairs when the product was originally developed.
The flexible suspension supports the sitter while allowing airflow through the seat and back. From a sustainability perspective, this also reduces reliance on thick foam upholstery, which can deteriorate, compress and become difficult to separate for recycling.
Its distinctive construction was innovative not only ergonomically, but also in how it reconsidered the materials normally used to manufacture an office chair.
A better approach to sustainable purchasing
No manufactured product is completely without environmental impact. The Aeron still requires materials, energy, manufacturing and transportation.
However, a more sustainable purchasing decision considers the product’s entire lifespan:
How much recycled material does it contain?
Can damaged parts be replaced?
Can the product remain useful for many years?
Can it be resold or refurbished?
Can its materials eventually be recovered?
The Herman Miller Aeron performs strongly across all of these areas.
Choose a chair designed for the long term
The Aeron combines recycled content, ocean-bound plastic, reduced material use, repairable components and an exceptionally long expected service life.
For individuals and organisations trying to reduce waste, the most sustainable chair is often not the cheapest chair today. It is the chair that continues performing year after year.
Curated Office Chairs supplies brand-new Herman Miller Aeron chairs throughout Australia, with free Australia-wide shipping.
Explore the Herman Miller Aeron at Curated Office Chairs.
The Aeron is so iconic it’s in the Museum of Modern Art, and it doesn’t just look great, its excellent ergonomics and build quality are highly praised too.
Brand new and authentic, fully loaded adjustability Herman Miller Aeron:
- Adjustable armrests (up/down, forward/back, rotate)
- PostureFit SL: Sacral and Lumbar support with adjustable intensity
- Forward tilt option
- Recline backstops
- Recline intensity
Colours Available: Graphite (Dark grey, most popular), Carbon (Light grey, pictured), Mineral (White), Onyx (Black)
Brand New and Authentic Herman Miller. The original manufacturer QR warranty label has been removed as the Herman Miller warranty is non-transferable and only applies to purchases made through official dealer channels. We import authentic Herman Miller chairs outside official dealer channels, and offer a warranty by Curated Office Chairs.
Try out at our Perth home-office showroom which often has Graphite Aeron Size B and C available for pickup. Contact or text to arrange a time.
Select a shipping option at checkout (all chairs arrive fully assembled):
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Estimated 7–26 business days (average ~12).
Pre-Order Sea Freight (Free)
Estimated 24–41 business days.
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• Same-Day Pickup from In-Person Stock (+$50)
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• Pre-Order then Pickup from Mount Hawthorn (+$0) - Place $100 Deposit Here