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Reducing, reusing, and recycling in the furniture industry: A mini-review
This study explores sustainable practices within the furniture industry, focusing on the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle. Through a comprehensive review of scholarly literature retrieved from databases like Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar a moderate corpus of articles is identified. The analysis reveals a predominant emphasis on strategies aimed at minimizing resource consumption, extending product lifespans, and optimizing material recovery. While reduce, reuse and recycle serve as foundational pillars of sustainable furniture production, the literature also highlights complementary principles such as "rethink" and "refuse," urging critical reassessment and rejection of unsustainable practices. Despite the diversity in research interests and methodologies, the synthesis of findings underscores the need for standardization and comprehensive approaches to address environmental challenges throughout the furniture lifecycle. The study advocates for further research and collaboration to drive meaningful progress towards a more sustainable future for furniture production and consumption. This abstract encapsulates the key findings and implications of the study, providing a concise overview of the state of research on sustainable practices within the furniture industry. The aim of this short review is to analyse the scientific articles and their quantity relating to ecodesign in the furniture industry, with particular emphasis on the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle, as well as complementary concepts such as ‘rethinking’ and ‘refuse’.
The efficiency of the formatting and milling module of the technological line for door frames production
By introducing a new technological line for formatting and milling mass-customized door frames for wooden doors, PORTA KMI Poland with an industrial plant located in Ełk, Poland, conducted appropriate performance tests of the line to determine the production capacity during technological acceptance in order to check whether the assumed capacity was met before its technical acceptance takes place. The work describes how the processing time changes for frames with changed beam lengths from the reference length of 2028 mm to 2600 mm and for frames whose width has been increased from 127 and 147 mm to 500 mm. On this basis, an average time of 25.53 s was calculated for door frames with beams 2600 mm long and 28.1 s for door frames with a width of 500 mm. Efficiency was also calculated, which is 2.35 for frames with a changed beam length of 2.14.
Energy Consumption for Furniture Joints during Drilling in Birch Plywood
The purpose of this study is to support eco-design ideas and sustainable manufacturing techniques by examining the energy consumption related to drilling holes for different furniture connections. The experimental model is a simple piece of furniture made from birch plywood with three different types of joints. Eccentric joints, confirmat screws, and dowel measurements of energy consumption with a CNC drilling and milling machine show different values for every kind of connector. The energy consumption was measured using a portable power quality analyzer, specifically the PQ-box 150 manufactured by A:Eberle GmbH & Co. KG Nürnberg, Germany. This device likely adheres to industry standards for energy measurement, ensuring accurate and reliable results. The measurement process involved recording energy consumption at different stages of the machining process, allowing for the analysis of specific cutting work and total energy consumption for various joint types. Dowels exhibit the lowest energy consumption at 0.105 Wh for one furniture joint, confirmat screws at 0.127 Wh, while eccentric joints, despite their higher energy consumption (0.173 Wh), offer enhanced transportability and assembly flexibility of a piece of furniture. Specific cutting power for one selected piece of furniture was 227.89 J/mm3 for dowels, 190.63 J/mm3 for eccentric joints and 261.68 J/mm3 for confirmat screws.
Driftwood: A mini-review of current knowledge and research for furniture industry
With increasing industrialization, the environmental impact of human activitycontinues to grow, leading to greater waste production and a depletion of naturalresources. The search for alternative, sustainable materials has become a pressingpriority, particularly in industries like furniture manufacturing. Driftwood, anatural resource carried to oceanic and coastal areas by currents, ice, and waves,presents a unique opportunity in this context. Originating primarily from borealforests in Siberia and Russia, driftwood undergoes natural modifications due toprolonged exposure to seawater and Arctic ice, influencing its physical andmechanical properties. This paper investigates the origins, properties, andpotential applications of driftwood, emphasizing its role as a sustainable resourcefor industrial use. Driftwood’s machinability, density, and structural integrity areanalyzed alongside its historical and modern applications, ranging fromconstruction and fuel in medieval Iceland to contemporary uses in art, furniture,and eco-friendly building materials. Additionally, innovative research exploringdriftwood-derived products such as thermo-acoustic panels and bricks highlightsits relevance to circular economy practices. The study concludes that whiledriftwood holds significant promise as an alternative material, challenges relatedto its structural properties and availability, exacerbated by climate change, requirefurther research. Nevertheless, integrating driftwood into industrial practicescould advance sustainability by reducing waste, preserving natural resources, andpromoting a transition to a circular economy
The prospect of using retro timber in the furniture industry
The prospect of using retrowood in the furniture industry. To avoid over-consumption of natural resources, the idea of recycling or extending the life of wood-based materials is often considered in recent times.Therefore, it seems appropriate to conduct research aimed at studying the mechanical properties of retrowood and determining the possibility of its application. As part of a scientific study, surveys of old wooden residential buildings (Никитина et al., 2017) of the Russian North with a service life of 60–100 years and mechanical tests of both retrowood and freshly cut wood were carried out. Comparison of indicators of physical and mechanical properties of old wood and new wood material used in the manufacture of furniture with normative indicators of properties was made. Based on the research results, an assessment was made of the possibility of reusing retrowood in the production of furniture and interior elements. Well-preserved vintage wood from old wooden houses being demolished is a potential resource-saving raw material for making furniture, which is confirmed by testing the properties of this material. Based on the research results, the possibility of designing and manufacturing furniture and interior elements from retro wood is considered.
Improving the stiffness of the corner connections in wooden door frames
The research aimed to determine the strength and stiffness of corner joints in interior door frames, depending on their construction and the modifications made to the design of the door frame joints. Initially, two models were compared: model 1, with two connectors using a clamping screw at an angle of 45°, and model 0, with a single connector using a cam joint at an angle of 90°. In all tests, model 1 exhibited significantly better mechanical properties. To improve the performance of model 0, three alternative construction models (A, B, and C) were proposed by changing the position of the door frame mounting holes. In the compression test, model A showed an increased bending moment compared to model 0, while models B and C showed no such improvement. In the tension test, the bending moment values remained at a similar level across all construction variants, including model 0. In terms of bending moment, the best result in compression was achieved by model A (48.26 Nm), and in tension by model B (48.72 Nm). The highest stiffness was demonstrated by model 1 (up to 42.38 kNm/rad), while among the alternative models, model C showed the best result in tension (33.98 kNm/rad). Due to the favourable increase in bending moment under compression in model A and the insignificant changes under tension across all variants, model A is considered the optimal solution. To enhance the strength of the door frame, offset holes can be applied as proposed in this model.