Circular Transition in the Furniture Sector

The furniture sector holds a strategic place in the European economy, yet also one of the heaviest environmental footprints of any manufacturing industry: millions of tonnes of waste each year, still mostly incinerated or landfilled. Knowing a sector has high circular potential, however, is not the same as realising it: what is missing are the people able to translate strategy and regulation into everyday industrial decisions. Developed from the results of the Erasmus+ project CirCLER, this volume brings together contributions from higher education institutions, research centres, sectoral associations and training providers across Europe, reading the circular transition of the furniture sector as a single systemic process spanning regulation, business models, design, technology and training. The Circular Economy Transition Manager (CETM), a new hybrid professional profile bridging sustainability objectives and operational decisions across the wood-furniture value chain, is at the heart of this transition. Twelve chapters guide the reader from European policy to the concrete tools for designing, training and managing change. An interdisciplinary contribution for researchers, professionals and trainers.