Resumo. The forest based industry is relevant to the world’s economy, since its primary and secondary products are used as raw material for other sectors and services generating employment and income for the population and taxes for the state. In Brazil, the forest industry stands out for the wealth of wood, but it generates a high amount of waste. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quantity and the factors responsible for the production of wood residues from the forest-based industries of the metropolitan region of Belém, Pará state. For this purpose, a total of 120 companies were considered that carried out primary and secondary processing, as well as furniture. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews applied in a sample of 31 companies and observations in loco. The variables were analyzed through descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation. It was verified that the companies generated a total of 12.3 thousand m3/month, with a mean of 398.9 m3/month of waste. The number of timber species influenced the amount of waste. It can be concluded from the comparison with other researches with this same theme that the companies generate a significant amount of waste as a consequence of the number of species processed.