Applying value stream mapping to improve the solid waste management in small and medium sized enterprises

Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) should manage the resources they have available in an effective way in order to face the highly competitive environment. In this sense, solid waste (SW) become one of the main issues to be managed, given the possibility of recovering and remanufacturing in internal or external processes. These initiatives are consistent with the policies of environmental responsibility that companies are undertaking. Lean Management is an approach that can be used in order to improve the environmental performance of the SMEs, identifying the source of SW and proposing strategies to reduce or eliminate them. To achieve this, it is possible to use flow analysis tools like the Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to graphically represent the materials with value-added and non-value added. This study is aimed at proposing a methodological approach based on the application of VSM at one plastic manufacturing SMEs by diagnosing the main sources of SW and quantifying them. Weak points on the processes and logistics issues were identified by this approach, providing valuable information for Solid Waste Management (SWM) decisions. The results confirm some advantages of the proposed VSM methodology as a practical redesign tool of waste and materials flows in the value stream.