One thing is for sure - it shouldn't be sitting outside in a car park.
Bookshelves, wardrobes, drawers, wall units and alcohol cabinets - there's plenty of furniture for storing precious belongings at the Green Island Landfill Recovery Store.
The store has been inundated with furniture, and is running out of room to display it, manager Kathy Abernethy said.
Most of it is now being stored outside in the car park.
"We've got stuff coming out of our ears. There's so much stuff, we've run out of shelves to put it on."
Ms Abernethy said she had no idea why so much recycled material was coming in.
"Maybe old folks are moving into homes, children are leaving home or people are making New Year resolutions to clear out some of their junk."
Despite the sudden influx of furniture, Ms Abernethy was not concerned about the growing pile and was pleased Dunedin residents were still recycling.
She said much of it was going out as fast as it was coming in and she was confident the pile would gradually disappear when University of Otago students returned to Dunedin during the next few weeks.
"It's a university student's paradise.
"It's all good quality stuff. Beds, chairs, lounge suites - most of it will sell for between $10 and $20 each."
The store was becoming an increasingly popular place to buy everything from furniture and exercise equipment to books, records and lawn-mowers.
The variety of recycled goods was expanding all the time, she said.
While Ms Abernethy could not disclose details of financial profit from the store's sales, she said it had been a very busy year with a 25% increase in the number of people dropping off and buying recycled goods in 2008.
