RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLEANER PRODUCTION PRACTICES AND COMPANY SIZE IN THE BRAZILIAN TEXTILE INDUSTRY

The application of Cleaner Production (CP) practices is a preventive strategy guided by economic and environmental benefits to companies. The textile industry is a major generator of pollutants, yet it is a crucial sector in Brazil that generates annual revenues of USD 51.58 billion and millions of jobs, even though it is constituted mostly of small and medium companies. This study aims to identify the CP practices adopted by different sizes of companies in the textile sector located in Brazil. A survey was conducted, and answers were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test to assess the relevance of each CP practice according to company size. The results showed that small companies apply CP practices exclusively for economic benefit because they have financial difficulties and lack of credit, medium-sized companies are challenged by large supply chains to achieve an environmental management system to provide products and services, and large companies seek green certifications to export their products to the European market. The results contribute to business practices by facilitating identification of the most relevant CP practices for each company size.