Life cycle assessment of furniture products: A case study of a chair

Date

2024-8-02

Author

Dingil, Beste

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Furniture products have long been integral to human daily life, serving not only functional needs but also enhancing comfort and aesthetic appeal in various living spaces. However, due to the harmful effects of furniture production, the industry is under immense pressure, highlighting the critical need for sustainable practices to mitigate potential damage to the environment and human health. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) serves as a crucial method for evaluating the environmental hotspots of processes by examining the entire life cycle of products. This study encompasses the cradle-to-grave LCA of a dining chair, based on actual and country-specific production data from Türkiye. The assessment was conducted using SimaPro 9.2.0.2 software with the Ecoinvent 3.7.1 and the U.S. Life Cycle Inventory (USLCI) databases, interpreting results across midpoint and endpoint impact categories using the ReCiPe 2016 Hierarchist method. The endpoint single score results indicated that the manufacturing stage has the highest environmental impact throughout the chair's life cycle, followed by packaging. Within the manufacturing phase, the veneer joining and upholstering stages were identified as the main contributors due to the use of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin and woven cotton, respectively. Furthermore, scenario analysis demonstrated that recycling packaging material and the final product notably reduces environmental impacts compared to incineration. Additionally, substituting non-woven fabrics for woven textiles emerges as a promising alternative in upholstered furniture. It is concluded that the proposed alternatives, when combined, can reduce the environmental impacts of a chair product by up to 48%, highlighting significant improvement opportunities in the industry.

Subject Keywords

Furniture, Dining chair, Ecodesign, Life cycle assessment, Environmental impacts

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/110851

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis