From Waste to Value: A Story About Life Cycle Management in the Furniture Industry

Abstract

This case focuses on the use of the CapSEM Model by the Norwegian furniture industry, beginning with efforts that raised sustainability awareness through a series of case studies over a period of more than 10 years. It started with a Cleaner Production (CP) programme for a group of furniture companies in a small community. The goal for another case study running in parallel with the CP-project, was to define a common set of Environmental Performance Indicators (EPIs) for reporting purposes for both the companies and the municipality to reduce waste and improve its treatment according to circular principles. While CP is at Level 1, EPIs and reporting is on level 3 and 4 in the CapSEM Model. In the furniture sector, the CP-programme led to capacity building by integrating Level 2 methods such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) into their daily work processes. LCA was used for product improvements based on hot spots detected through the analyses, and also to generate Environmental Performance Declarations (EPDs) for products. The implementation of these new procedures was integrated into the organisation’s strategic work through certified Environmental Management System (EMS). In addition to a demonstration of a gradual shift from Levels 1, 2 and 3, the case also describes the benefits of building cooperative communities (Level 4) that include sectoral, regional, and academic participants. The Level 4 activities were originally initiated by a Norwegian Local Agenda 21 programme.