Environmental Profile of Wood Waste Recycling and the Use of Recycled Wood in Furniture Manufacturing

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Abstract

The wood furniture sector, heavily reliant on wood panels, faces supply risks and generates significant waste, which can be managed through recycling or energy recovery. This study investigates the environmental impacts of wood waste end-of-life management and the use of virgin versus recycled raw materials in the wood furniture sector, aiming to identify the most sustainable scenario in wood manufacturing between wood waste recycling as output and recycled wood as input. Environmental impacts of four scenarios were analyzed and compared through the life cycle assessment with the “grave-to-cradle” approach. Inventory was supported by information and data from an Italian furniture company, while the impact assessment was performed using the ReCiPe method and the SimaPro software. The results from the impact assessment and gravity analysis show the main contribution of different scenarios due to the incineration of wood waste and the manufacturing of wood panels; the sensitivity analysis highlights how increasing recycling allows for greater performance improvement than increasing recycled inputs. Although limited by the assumptions related to the case study, this research enriches the discussion on the environmental convenience of recycling manufacturing waste and using recycled materials and confirms the importance of life cycle assessment for implementing circular economy strategies in companies.

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