/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// SUSTAINABILITY IN A CARPENTRY FACTORY OF AN ASSOCIATION OF SCAVENGERS CHARACTERIZED BY SOCIAL RISK A CASE STUDY MSc Mariana Fonseca Braga, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. PhD Eduardo Romeiro Filho, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. ABSTRACT This article presents a research done at ASMARE (Paper, Cardboard and Reusable Material Collectors Association), in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. ASMARE is a “scavengers” association that screens recyclable waste to sell it to recycling companies. Our purpose was to evaluate the potential for sustainability and the current practices of one sector of this organization, a Carpentry Factory. Among the many activities that take place within ASMARE, this analysis focused on its small carpentry factory, a place where workers manufacture objects from reused and recycled materials. Keywords: Product design, ASMARE carpentry factory, sustainability. INTRODUCTION ASMARE, the “Paper, Cardboard and Reusable Material Collectors Association” of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, develops many side activities of social inclusion, such as two cultural centers and restaurants, a recycling center for waste of construction sites, a crafts factory that reuses waste and a carpentry factory. All these activities serve as a way of social inclusion and training of workers from social risk groups, such as poor unemployed people, young people without formal education, elderly people, or individuals that were rejected by society due to their low social status, lack of formal education or professional training, or drug related problems. Initially, the Carpentry Factory was created to give maintenance to the wood carts that are built and used by scavengers, and to help them learn new skills (Figure 1). Figure 1. Scavenger and one model of wood cart used by scavengers in Belo Horizonte. In 2006 a new material was introduced into the carpentry factory; the “ecoplaca”. “Ecoplacas” are made up by recycled post-consumption long-life packaging (IDHEA, 2009). They are also made from industrial waste that comes from, i.e., the toothpaste tube’s production. In ASMARE’s carpentry factory, the production of dustbins made up of “ecoplacas” is gradually replacing the original furniture production made up of reusable materials available for use. The civil society, institutions and organizations donate these reusable materials. These both productions, the manufacture of dustbins out of “ecoplacas” and the manufacture of furniture out of donated reusable materials; affect the activities in the carpentry in a different way. Currently, the increasing dustbins production out of ecoplacas found in ASMARE’s carpentry is due to their profitability and to the simplicity of their manufacture process. The plaques come from a group of factories from Sao Paulo (630 Km from Belo !"#$%&"'( *+, -+"'(. !"#$%%&'()* #, -./0123445 67% 867 9#":& ;#(,%"%($% #( 0%*')( 1%*%<"$75 =4 >$6#?%" @ 8 A#B%C?%"5 0%:,65 67% A%67%":<(&*D E&'6%& ?F ADGDHD 1##I%(?J")5 KDKD ;7%( L !DMD /6<NN%"*D