Environmental and safety risk assessment for sustainable circular production: Case study in plastic processing for fashion products

Even if sustainability and circularity are the most challenging goals today, industrial waste minimization is rarely discussed and practical methods to reduce risks related to hazardous waste in manufacturing processes are not frequently applied yet. The case of Italian company specialized in plastic processing for fashion products, has the chance to design and test a new integrated methodology to reduce the risks for ecosystem and workers associated to hazardous waste. Focusing the attention to standard operations, extraordinary conditions, and emergency situations, all activities included in waste collection, storage and transport are identified and the risks associated to the environmental impacts and the occupational health&safety are analysed. Research results demonstrate the opportunity to adopt one method to analyse both environmental and health&safety risks associated to activities and conditions involved in industrial waste management. The case study confirms the relevance of integrated approaches and the necessity of simplified tools to support companies in adopting integrated risk management.