Cleaner Production Applied in a Small Furniture Industry in Brazil: Addressing Focused Changes in Design to Reduce Waste

The wood industry is known for being among the biggest resource consumers, having a relatively low yield. The wood furniture industry as part of the wood industry also remains a big generator of residues and a big consumer of resources. Diverse solutions and technologies have been developed to deal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2017-10, Vol.9 (10), p.1867
Main Authors: Gutiérrez Aguilar, Carlos, Panameño, Ronald, Perez Velazquez, Alexei, Angel Álvarez, Beatriz, Kiperstok, Asher, César, Sandro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case studies
Energy consumption
Eucalyptus
Furniture
Furniture industry
Residues
Sustainability
Sustainable use
Wood
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Summary:The wood industry is known for being among the biggest resource consumers, having a relatively low yield. The wood furniture industry as part of the wood industry also remains a big generator of residues and a big consumer of resources. Diverse solutions and technologies have been developed to deal with the residues generated, but those technologies are mostly applied at the end of the production chain with limited results. Cleaner production represents a program based on continuous strategies applied to a more sustainable use of materials and energy, minimizing waste and pollution. This paper presents a case study of a cleaner production program developed in a small furniture industry in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, applying the concepts of cleaner production with parameters of ecodesign developed for the furniture industry. The object of study was the production of a wooden chair made from eucalyptus wood. The application of the cleaner production program and ecodesign parameters allowed a detailed characterization of the waste, resulting in opportunities for a reduction of the use of raw material by 30%, a reduction in waste by 49% and allowing a reduction in energy by 36% due to simplification of the productive process. Among the strategies applied were reshaping pieces, redesigning, and the substitution of materials. The results suggest that despite the existence of more complex environmental methods and approaches, the application of cleaner production plus ecodesign parameters could be more achievable for micro and small furniture industries.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su9101867