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relevant, with a difference of less than 2%, except for the CCH (5%). Overall, the results showed a minimum impact and demonstrated that the modified treatments possibly increased the impact of the HWC because of the inherent hazard of the intermediate benzene and phenol products (Eckelman 2016). This was an effort to adapt HMAL in green chemistry for industrial lignin. Other alternative options in HWC wardrobe production The important contribution to the environmental feature of wardrobe production was the energy requirements from fossil fuels in a cogeneration system. This process showed an important role in terms of the CCH, FD, HT, and PMF because of the use of non-renewable fuel and its associated CO 2 emissions (Vignali 2017). China is paying close attention to energy security, optimizing the energy structure, and reducing the emission factors of the grid mix (Myers 2016). For example, the application of solar, nuclear, and wind power can reduce the emission factor of electricity by 835 g CO 2 eq/kWh in China, which is higher than that in the USA (609 g CO 2 eq/kWh) (Qiao et al. 2017). Therefore, the energy efficiency and centralized transportation of HWC wardrobe production should be considered an important research target for furniture development to reduce the environmental impact of HWC wardrobe production (Peters et al. 2016). Meanwhile, the transportation stage was relevant when relying on the distance optimized with consideration of improvement and management of integrated processes. The reuse of waste production and energetic valorization are alternative options that promote cleaner production strategies. For the end of life stage, a landfill scenario was set for both the wardrobe scraps and wasted elbows because thermoset composites cannot be recycled and incineration with biological heat is not a valid option in China due to its low calorific value and high cost. In another scenario, the furniture companies could expand subsidies for consumers who are trading in an older wardrobe for sustainability in extended brand benefit. The refurbished wardrobe could be reused for a prolonged life cycle. CONCLUSIONS 1. The hybrid modified ammonium lignosulfonate/wood fiber composites (HWC) wardrobe provided superior environmental performance compared with the conventional wardrobe of the same size. Concerning the composite materials, the wardrobe case study demonstrated that HWC presented a better solution to enhance the environmental performance of the complete wardrobe. 2. The hot spots that occurred over the life cycle of HWC wardrobe manufacturing process were identified from the inventory analysis and impact assessment results. Three processes, namely the raw materials supply, energy requirements in cogeneration, and transportation activities, had a remarkable role in the environmental profile. 3. According to the four main sub-damage categories, the distribution stage was responsible for most of the climate change (CCH) contribution (approximately 46%). For the fossil depletion (FD), transportation was responsible for most of the FD impact (33%). For the human toxicity (HT), a high percentage of the total impact of ecotoxicity potentials was linked to transportation activities (60%). For the particulate matter
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Li et al . (2019 ). “Wardrobe case study in China,” B io R esources 14(2), 2740-2758.
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