Ecodesign in the furniture industry: Opportunities and challenges for organizational insertion

Abstract

The purpose hereof was to analyze cultural and organizational changes in the furniture industry, beginning with the adherence to an environmental certification program called "Biomóvel." The study, whose research instrument was a questionnaire answered by industrial managers, was performed in the Alto Vale do Rio Negro Pole (north of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil). A descriptive analysis of data was performed in order to assess the impact and relevance of the action in the organizational environment. The results point to the minimization of the resources used in several planning and production stages, and to the intensification of the selection and use of low environmental impact materials. We noticed that the surveyed companies have taken significant steps to strengthen its ecodesign as a development strategy, but they still do not execute this decision in integration with other stages of processing, trading, and industry progression.