A look at the furniture industry (NACE Code 36.1)

The furniture and fixtures industry (Nace code 36.1) manufactures furniture for homes, offices, public buildings, and restaurants. It produces fixtures such as partitions, shelving, and display cases for offices and stores. Many products of this sector are made of wood, but household furniture made of metal and office and store fixtures made of non-wood materials are included. This sector also produces mattresses and bedsprings. Automobile and aircraft seats are included.

The furniture sector manufactured products valued at 75.7 billion Euro in 1998, up from 73.5 billion in 1997. This was about 2% of the value of the production of all EU manufacturing. Employment in this sector was 940,500 in 1998.

Household furniture (all furniture for domestic use excepted upholstered furniture and mattresses) manufacture constituted approximately 73% the sector’s 1998 economic activity, with 55 billion Euro. Upholstery represented 10 billion Euro worth of production, mattresses 3.2 billion Euro and office furniture (companies and administration bought 95% of production) 7.8 billion Euro.

The table in next page presents the corresponding volume of various types of furniture produced in the EU in 1998.

The production is presented according to 4 categories of products in order to facilitate the possibility to analyse what is happening when furniture is a waste. The sales networks are different for domestic and office furniture and the way of recovering or recycling (if any) are different between wooden furniture and mattresses or upholstered seats.

Processes in production of wood furniture and fixtures include drying, sawing and planning, assembly, and coating or finishing. Some furniture is finished before assembly. Assembly of upholstered wood furniture typically involves solvent-based adhesives, while non-upholstered wood furniture is joined using "hot melt" adhesive or polyvinyl acetate.

Veneer (a thin layer of wood) may be applied, requiring adhesives along with heat and/or pressure. Ammonia and acetone may be applied to remove natural wood rosin. Wood surfaces are then bleached (often with hydrogen peroxide), coated, and finished for indoor or outdoor use. Coatings and finishes may be applied, dried, and sanded several times. Outdoor furniture is usually treated with a fungicide and water-repellent.

Adhesives commonly used in assembling furniture contain solvents such as methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, toluene, and xylene. Coating and finishing applications typically involve solvents in stains, paints, finishes, and inks (used to simulate wood grain); toluene and xylene are common.