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

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 en...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2023-10, Vol.15 (20), p.14944
Main Authors: de Souza Pinho, Giusilene Costa, Calmon, João Luiz, Medeiros, Diego Lima, Vieira, Darli, Bravo, Alencar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brazil
Ceramics industry
Decision making
Energy
Energy management systems
Furniture industry
Investigations
Landfill
Management decisions
Manufacturing
Natural resources
Raw materials
Refuse and refuse disposal
Refuse disposal industry
Sustainability
United Kingdom
Waste management
Wood
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Summary: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 m3 of MDF stores 1080 kg CO2 eq/m3, which results in a net impact of −849 kg CO2 eq/m3 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.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su152014944