Wood Waste Management from the Furniture Industry: The Environmental Performances of Recycling, Energy Recovery, and Landfill Treatments

Giusilene Costa de Souza Pinho, João Luiz Calmon, Diego Lima Medeiros, Darli Vieira and Alencar Bravo ()
Additional contact information
Giusilene Costa de Souza Pinho: Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), Vitória Campus, Fernando Ferrari Highway, 514, Vitória 290075-910, ES, Brazil
João Luiz Calmon: Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), Vitória Campus, Fernando Ferrari Highway, 514, Vitória 290075-910, ES, Brazil
Diego Lima Medeiros: Clean Technologies Network (TECLIM), Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), Balsas Campus, MA-140 Highway, km 4, Balsas 65800-000, MA, Brazil
Darli Vieira: Management Department, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351, Boulevard des Forges, Trois-Rivières, QC G8Z 4M3, Canada
Alencar Bravo: Management Department, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 3351, Boulevard des Forges, Trois-Rivières, QC G8Z 4M3, Canada

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 20, 1-29

Abstract: Proper management of wood waste (WW) from the furniture industry has become an important issue. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool that is widely used for identifying environmental gains in WW management strategies. Thus, the aim of this research was to perform a comparative LCA, analyzing the environmental aspects and impacts of different WW management scenarios generated in the furniture industry in the state of Espirito Santo, Brazil. To conduct the study, five scenarios were designed: medium-density fiberboard (MDF) production (Scenario 1), medium-density particleboard (MDP) production (Scenario 2), solid ceramic brick production (Scenario 3), heat production in the ceramics industry (Scenario 4), and landfill disposal (Scenario 5). The results showed that compared to Scenarios 3 and 4, Scenarios 1 and 2 are potentially more favorable for disposing of WW. Scenario 1 achieved more environmental benefits in all of the impact categories evaluated. Notably, 1 m 3 of MDF stores 1080 kg CO 2 eq/m 3 , which results in a net impact of −849 kg CO 2 eq/m 3 of MDF. Scenario 5 is the least favorable practice. This research designs scenarios that contribute to reductions in the demand for virgin sources and increases in environmental gains.

Keywords: life-cycle assessment; LCA; wood waste; furniture industry; circular economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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