Valorizing urban forestry waste through the manufacture of toys.

Urban forestry generates a huge amount of waste worldwide, resulting from the processes of pruning and suppression. Disposal in landfills reduces the useful life of these facilities and forgoes the possibility of generating income from the waste. This study investigated the manufacture of toys as a strategy to valorize urban forestry waste. For this, physical-mechanical, chemical (extractive), color and shape characterizations were performed for three species of urban trees commonly planted in Brazil, a region of Neotropical forests. Toy prototypes were developed and manufactured from wood waste. Regarding color, all studied species showed high value of the variable b*, which refers to the blue-yellow axis. Handroanthus heptaphyllus wood had the highest values of basic density (0.706 g.cm-3) and Janka hardness (1142, 1027 and 1669 kgf.cm-2 for radial, tangential and transverse directions, respectively), and had the lowest volumetric shrinkage (11.38%). The lowest content of total extractives was measured in Handroanthus heptaphyllus, 6.33%, and the greatest content was found in Spathodea campanulata, 7.01%. The average value suggested for the toy prototypes varied between $ 3.70 and $ 13.58. The urban pruning wastes of the species studied have physical, chemical and mechanical attributes suitable for the manufacture of toys. This use has strong potential for environmental, economic and social sustainability and the toys are pedagogically accepted by adults and children.

Fatores de incorporação de requisitos ambientais no processo de desenvolvimento de produtos em indústrias de móveis sob encomenda / Incorporation of environmental requirements in the process of developing products in industries from custom furniture

Este estudo teve por objetivo identificar os requisitos ambientais incorporados em arranjos produtivos locais de móveis e os fatores internos e externos para a aplicação desses requisitos no processo de desenvolvimento de produtos. Foram analisadas 18 micro e pequenas empresas do Pólo Moveleiro de Itatiba, São Paulo (SP), quanto à adoção de requisitos ambientais no ciclo de vida do produto, assim como no PDP (Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos) sob encomenda. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas e visitas in loco, analisando cada atividade do PDP e os requisitos ambientais associados a elas e identificando os responsáveis por cada atividade e, ao final, os fatores que motivaram a incorporação desses requisitos. Os resultados indicam que os fatores econômicos ainda ditam a forma das empresas responderem às questões ambientais, seja a adequação às leis e aos regulamentos ou a redução dos custos de produção. Além disso, a ausência de profissionais capacitados na área de desenvolvimento de produtos sustentáveis propicia o aumento das dificuldades em estruturar o setor.

This research had the goal of identifying the environmental requirements incorporated in furniture clusters and the internal and external factors for the use of those requirements in the product development process. Eighteen micro and small companies from the furniture hub of Itatiba (a city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo) were analyzed according to their adopting environmental requirements in the products life cycle as well as in the PDP (product development process) of custom orders. The data were collected through partly open interviews and on site visitations, by analyzing each activity in the PDP and the environmental requirements linked to them, identifying the people responsible for each activity and, in the end, identifying the factors that motivated the adoption of those requirements. The results show that economic factors still rule the way in which the companies respond to environmental issues, neither by adaption to the laws and regulations or by reducing the production costs. Moreover, the lack of capable professionals in the area of developing sustainable products contributes for making it more difficult to structure the sector.