The detailed characteristics of the upholstery services are described in Additional file 1, as well as an overview of the upholstery companies around the world. The production process is similar in all the visited companies, starting with the furniture reception. Figure 1 describes the flowchart of the production process of upholstery furniture, explaining the environmental aspects involved in each process stage. The initial assessment of the product’s physical structure is carried out when it arrives at the company, to identify the renovation feasibility. In the disassembly stage, three aspects are considered: structure, flexibility, and appearance. In the structural assessment, it is verified if it is necessary to replace wood, foam, springs (if any), and straps.
The appearance is decided by the customer when choosing the covering material and the design characteristics that will be modified in the product. After these steps, the upholstery is covered and delivered to the customer. Employees state that there is no concern for the environment in any of the production stages, as well as in the choice of inputs, nor the identification of environmental aspects to mitigate the negative activity’s environmental impacts. It is possible to observe the raw materials used, the losses involved in the manufacturing process, and in which stages they take place to identify those that characterize environmental aspects that may cause negative impacts on the environment and human health (Figure 1).
When the components are separated, the not-used foam is destined for disposal along with household waste, as well as the shavings resulting from the wood, foam, and fabric cutting. Only one part of the wood shaving is sent for reuse in bakery ovens. Besides the discarded waste, there are also emissions of gases and particulate matter that cause impacts on human health and the environment. Thus, there is potential for implementing an EMS aiming at mitigating the various negative impacts arising from poor production process management.
3.1 Waste disposal
Employees claim that the materials resulting from the disassembly, due to the size and damage suffered and the shavings of fabrics and synthetic laminates, which do not have enough footage for use, are disposed to the collection of common waste carried out by the Teresina Environmental Consortium (TEC). Two companies claim to deposit the waste at Waste Receiving Points (WRP), made available by the Municipal Secretariat for Urban Development and Housing (SEMDUH), for the collection of non-household waste from small generators. The location of the final destination of these residues is defined by SEMDUH and transportation is carried out in vehicles suitable for this purpose (SEMDUH, 2020).
TEC is responsible for the collection of solid household waste, in addition to the waste resulting from the provision of services, commerce, and other activities. However, the Collection, Transport, and Final Disposal Fee for Extra-household Solid Waste is charged for residues characterized as those that due to their volume, weight, degree of dangerousness or degradability, or other specificities, require special procedures for its management and disposal, because of the negative impacts and risks to health and the environment (Teresina, 2016). Among them are domestic furniture goods, as well as those that exceed the volume of two hundred and forty liters or sixty kilograms, for twenty-four hours (Teresina, 2016). One of the companies said that it puts foam residues at the company’s door every week to be taken by anyone who perceives any use. The justification for this attitude is that, usually, collectors take these products to recycling cooperatives.
Regarding wood waste, the employees of one of the companies claim that they try to make the most use of it by making boxes, shelves, organizing niches, and cutting tables. However, the material that is not used is destined for common collection. The other companies dispose of all of their waste in the common collection.
In informal companies, employees from two companies claim that new fabric shavings, when requested by artisans, are donated to the manufacture of carpets, pillows, and bags. However, there is no periodicity in the collection. Thus, when accumulated, they are destined for common collection.
The foam and fabric shavings from one of the informal upholstery companies are used to make pillows. Another four companies use the larger size shavings for making cushions and poufs. However, everyone stated that the smaller size shavings are destined for a common collection. None of the informal upholstery companies quantify the discarded material. Regarding wood waste, two upholstery companies claim that, when sought by bakeries, they sell the material to be used in ovens, but there is no frequency, so they send it to WRP.
According to data from the National Sanitation Information System (SNIS), it is estimated that in Brazil, in 2019, 65.11 million tons of solid urban waste were collected. Of this amount, approximately 48.1 million tons were disposed of in landfills and 15.9 million tons had inadequate final disposal, making a total of 24.9% of the total disposed of in soil (SNIS, 2019). The data show that the majority of dumps are in the Northeast region, with a total of 622 units, that is, 55.8% of the total registered dumps. The number of controlled landfills becomes low, only 13.8% of the total amount registered (SNIS, 2019). This data is relevant because it demonstrates the reality of the region where these companies are installed and the necessity of managing their waste.
3.2 Waste management
According to the employees, there is no planning for solid waste management from any of the upholstery companies. This can be explained by the managers’ lack of interest in working compatible with the mitigation of environmental impacts and, also, by the lack of partnerships with companies that can perform the selective collection of these materials, especially those that are potentially reusable.
Law No. 12,305/2010 instituted the National Solid Waste Policy (NSWP), which establishes principles, objectives, and instruments related to waste management, the generators and public power responsibilities, and applicable economic instruments (Brasil, 2010). For companies to comply with the law there must be actions aimed at the consolidation and application of its provisions and mutual interest among all spheres of society. Thus, strategies that seek cleaner production, a more circular production chain, planning the product’s life cycle, understanding of social responsibility, must be increasingly aligned with any manufacturing process.
In Chapter II, Art. 3, item IV of the NSWP, the product life cycle is defined as a series of steps that involve product development, from obtaining inputs, through the production process, consumption, and disposition (BRASIL, 2010). Thus, in the planning phase of a product, all steps from pre to post-consumption must be known identifying the environmental aspects to mitigate those with a potential negative impact on the environment.
The law objectives range from the protection of public health and environmental quality to the encouragement of environmental labeling and sustainable consumption. Also, the law suggests waste management starting with the non-generation, reduction, reuse, recycling, treatment, and environmentally appropriate disposal (Brasil, 2010). Therefore, the law suggests rethinking the production, by recommending not to generate waste, seeking to minimize as much as possible any waste, until the material is not amenable to use, and it needs adequate disposal. In upholstery services, although some materials are reused during the process, there are still no practices aiming at reducing waste. There are sporadic actions, in some enterprises, to make some waste available for collection, by artisans, however, there is no periodicity and monitoring of the occurrence of this practice.
The use of residual upholstery material for the manufacture of other consumer goods (such as artisanal goods), refers to the concept of upcycling which, according to Bridgens et al. (2018), is the use of discarded objects or materials, to create a new product with quality and value superior to the original. The activities involving the reuse of materials can be influenced given the social, economic, and political context in which they are inserted and pay attention to the care that must be taken regarding discriminatory positions that the reuse of waste by artisans generates products of low quality. The reuse can be carried out with skill and aesthetic quality.
Another issue is related to the reuse of wood waste. Some upholstery companies provide these materials for use in bakery ovens. However, Top (2014) explains that despite reusing waste, there is environmental pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels. This pollution is aggravated if the burning is performed in wood stoves, ovens, and wood boilers because it is necessary the complete combustion of wood residues and this is only achieved when the firing takes place on appropriate furnaces so that pollutants such as carbon monoxide, manganese, and organic compounds do not continue to be released. The ideal scenery is the waste returning to the supplier company, so it can give an environmentally appropriate destination. This is possible through integration between the supplier and the company that uses the input.
According to Bridgens et al. (2018), another way for a more assertive destination would be with products designed intentionally to meet the needs of a second life cycle, with functional aspects different from the original, differentiating them in post-consumption. When the product is planned to have a second life, its design provides reuse, different from those that do not have this intrinsic value. In this case, ad-hoc recycling is performed in a product that, initially, was not designed for this purpose, resulting in less reusable components.