The Copernicia prunifera (Miller) H.E. Moore or "carnauba" generates a material from the leaves used in the wax production, raw material of countless industrial products. Brazil is the only producer of carnauba wax and the state of Piauí, an important influential. In this, the natural conditions of the district of Campo Maior favor the incidence of the carnauba and its historical tradition in the wax production, turned it a regional pole. The general goal is to analyze, in the carnauba wax production, the elements and the eco-efficiency indicators - economical efficiency associated with low environmental impact. The specific goals are: to evaluate, qualitatively, the materials and energy consumption, toxic substances emissions, existence of recycling of materials and use of renewable resources; to build and to analyze eco-efficiency indicators. The information and data originated from direct research in a wax industry that represented the technical pattern and the participation in the market in the State. The results show that the industrial production of wax affect the environment with intensive use of water, use of wood and diesel as energy source, chemical products consumption and pollutants emissions, however, it attends important eco-efficiency elements as the recycling of materials and consumption of renewable materials.
Carnauba wax; Eco-efficiency; Brazil Northeast; State of Piauí
