Key facts about pallets and the environment

5 key facts you need to know about pallets and the environment

25 of July 2013 | By Susan Brooks | Posted in Guides

The pallet may be the common denominator of the logistics industry but not all pallets are the same and there is endless argument about which pallet material has the least impact on the environment. In this article, I help to clarify the debate.

Which kind of pallet is the greenest?

Pallets get a lot of bad press. Some people say that too many end up in landfill sites. Others argue that the wood used to make the overwhelming majority of them results in deforestation and therefore contributes to global warming. Then there are other environmental issues, such as the wooden pallet’s role as a means of migration for unwanted pests such as the Asian Longhorned Beetle.

"There are good reasons why the wooden pallet has clocked up some 90 years in the logistics industry."

5 key facts about the environmental impact of pallets

If we wanted to explore every avenue of this debate in detail, I'd need to write a book, so this is just a short-and-sweet overview:

1. Plastic pallets are not as green as they claim – Naturally, plastic pallet manufacturers point to the long lifespan of their products and the fact that they are lighter – typically by 30% – and so help to reduce fuel consumption. That’s all true, of course, but is unlikely to tip the scales given the environmentally harmful impact of manufacturing and oil-based product.
2. You need to distinguish between pooled wooden pallets and non-pooled ones – The fact is that these types of wooden pallet are different in construction and this has an effect on their environmental impact. Although a pooled pallet has a better lifespan, its high weight results in higher transport costs and thereby greater carbon footprint. A non-pooled wooden pallet is lighter and has the lowest environmental impact at the point of manufacture but has a shorter life.
3. Wooden pallets do not result in deforestation – Many pallet suppliers use only wood certified by an accredited environmental body, such as the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) or PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification). In any case, trees are generally not cut down to make pallets. The wood used for pallets is a by-product of the timber used in the construction of houses and furniture. The best wood is reserved for these items and the humble pallet is made from the off-cuts.
4. Most wooden pallets are recycled – Timber recovered from damaged pallets is used to manufacture vast numbers of reconditioned pallets and other packaging materials. A recent survey in the US found that over 70% of all wooden pallets are now recycled – a much higher recycling rate than for aluminium, paper or plastic. Another report found that less than 5% of wooden pallets end up in landfills and, of course, they biodegrade there anyway!
5. Wooden pallets can be chipped into fuel – Any wooden packaging waste that cannot be used to make reconditioned pallets can be turned into wood chip fuel. This is currently the cheapest form of heat energy on the market and is a sustainable and renewable source of fuel for heating or power.

So, is it a coincidence that the most ‘natural’ material for a pallet turns out to be the most environmentally friendly? Perhaps not. Wooden pallets are reusable, repairable and recyclable because they’re made from timber – which is renewable, sustainable and biodegradable.

Author of this article is Susan Brooks who is the Managing Director of National Pallets.

FSC Friday

25 Countries prepare to celebrate FSC Friday this week

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At the end of this week the FSC celebrate FSC Friday, where across the country and around the world a vast range of people will be promoting the FSC system and responsible forestry. Have a look at the map to see what’s going on around the world.

There are currently 25 countries involved, and within those countries there are businesses and schools who will be getting involved. In the UK alone we have 26 businesses, 39 schools and a variety of other scout groups, libraries and councils doing events. You can have a look at the full UK map here.

Many of these events are internal, raising awareness amongst staff and customers for businesses and teaching children about forests and forest management for schools.

As an individual there are also ways to get involved with FSC Friday if you are not a member of a group already holding a promotion:

• Use one of our banners on your social media profile on FSC Friday to raise awareness.

• Tweet a picture of an FSC product you find in the shops or at home – look for the logo and you’ll be surprised at the range of products come from forests – from rubber gloves to footballs to paper and cards! We’ll retweet the best.

• Dress in green for the day.

• Tell a friend about the FSC and why it’s important to support responsible forestry. Word of mouth is important.

• Visit an FSC certified forest.

As the week goes on we’ll be sharing stories and photos from other countries and from around the UK as events unfold. Make sure you keep up to date with the website and the social media accounts.

Finally, why not use the opportunity of autumn around the corner to visit an FSC certified forest and take photos, which you could enter into our photo competition.

Information taken from the FSC website, follow the link to find out more information about getting involved. http://www.fsc-uk.org/events.98.197.htm

Also check out our website for information about our products and services, bespoke timber pallets and cases manufactured to order.  www.pallets.co.uk

25 Fabulous Pallet Projects

25 + DIY Fabulous Pallet Projects

Some great ideas for recycling wooden pallets. 

25+ Fabulous DIY Pallet Projects

Follow the link for 25 great ideas and instructions - originally posted by Kelly Rowe 30/05/2014 - some great ideas.
http://livelaughrowe.com/25-diy-fabulous-pallet-projects/

Check out our website www.pallets.co.uk for more info on what we manufacture.  We specialize in bespoke pallets and cases.

Variety of pallets and cases

Take a look at some of our bespoke pallets and cases.  Any size, any style available, the only limit is your imagination.

Visit our website for more information www.pallets.co.uk

What came first, the pallet or the forklift?

This question, posed decades ago by the earliest pallet industry pioneers such as the late Bill Sardo, the first president of the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association still comes up today. The correct answer depends on how we define “pallet.”

Pallet-like structures have been used as bases for at least a few hundred years for applications such as the safe stacking and stabilization of kegs. Let’s look at the www.Dictionary.comdefinition, which describes a pallet as “a small, low, portable platform on which goods are placed for storage or moving, as in a warehouse or vehicle.”

If one is to follow the definition at Dictionary.com, then these structures were pallets in that they were used for storage, and they did indeed predate the lift truck. They did not, however, facilitate movement of goods, which most professional definitions for pallets would prescribe to be an important part of an accurate description. The appearance of unit-load bases designed to move goods takes us to to the very late 1800's. The predecessor of the wooden pallet was the wooden skid (often combined with iron or steel components), which consisted of stringers or legs fastened to a top deck. It first appeared in American factories in conjunction with the low lift truck. A crude low lift hand truck was invented in 1887 that could elevate a skid a few inches by manual means. A more durable, all-steel low lift truck design was introduced in 1909. Early lift trucks had a lift platform. The appearance of forks came later. Skids were classified as “live,” containing casters on the base for manual positioning of the skid, or “dead” if they did not have casters.

With the introduction of the high lift fork truck in the last half of the 1910's, the stage was eventually set for the eventual introduction of the bottom pallet deck, resulting in the modern pallet. As early as 1926, the essence of the modern lift truck had been developed. Now, pallets no longer were simply a means of moving materials within the plant. High lift trucks made possible vertical stacking of unit loads and a resulting dramatic improvement of warehouse and plant storage efficiencies. Several early pallet patents exist, and these are referenced at www.Wikipedia.org in its discussion of the pallet.

The pallet evolved in stages. Spacers were used between loads to allow fork placement and withdrawal, progressing to the placement of boards atop stringers to make skids. This facilitated the stacking of a greater range of loads. Lift trucks came to be commonly referred to as “tiering” trucks because they were used to stack unit loads of product. Eventually boards were fastened to the bottom to create the modern pallet. The development of the pallet eliminated the potentially unsafe and time consuming practice of the operator frequently climbing out on the front of the lift truck to place the 2x4's between unit loads, while reducing the risk of stringer collapse. The development of the bottom deck benefited the unit load base in a number of ways, including better distribution of weight over the load below, as well as less risk of pallet stringer collapse.

Trade magazine advertisements from the 1920s provide the first evidence of pallets being shipped by rail domestically in the U.S.

Pallet development further evolved with the development of 4-way entry and alternative material pallets in the 1940s. During World War 2, the use of the pallet and forklift would become a key component of the U.S. military logistics strategy. See for example, “Why Use Two When One Will Do.” http://packagingrevolution.net/why-use-two-if-one-will-do/ After the War, the use of pallets became increasingly popular in industry. But more on that for a future instalment.

In the final analysis, most pallet professionals would say that the forklift came first, and the pallet came later. Based on more commonplace definitions, however, such as offered at Dictionary.com, you could also be right in saying that the pallet came first.

This interesting article was created JULY 12, 2014 BY RICK LEBLANC

Check out our website http://www.pallets.co.uk/ for more information and specifications about our bespoke wooden pallets and cases. 

Wood vs Plastic Pallets

Pallets can be built in virtually any size and from a variety of materials, including wood, plastic, steel, aluminium, cardboard and composite hybrids.

Wood has always been the most common material used for pallets due to its durability, cost-effectiveness, ability to be repaired, and minimal consumption of natural resources.  It is a common misconception that the use of wood pallets results in deforestation.  Although new wood pallets (used primarily for non-standard sizes) are made from virgin lumber, trees are rarely cut down to make pallets.  Instead, trees are cut down to product more valuable items such as building materials and furniture.  New wood pallets are built from the downfall (unattractive lumber) that is left over from this process which is typically discarded if not made into pallets.

The majority of reusable wood stringer pallets in circulation are recycled pallets (used pallets that have been repaired using lumber acquired from irreparable pallets), reducing their cost in addition to their environmental impact.

Wooden pallets are sustainable.  When wood pallets reach the end of their useful life they can be converted into value-added products like wood flooring or replacement parts for other pallets.  Alternatively, they are ground into mulch or stove pellets.

Recently, plastic pallets (made from high-density polyethylene or HDPE) have become more prevalent, though plastic pallets are still used in less than 10% of applications, including internal pools.

The production of a common 48x40 plastic pallet consumes eight times more raw material than a comparable reusable wood pallet.  In addition, the manufacturing process used to make plastic pallets consumes five times more energy, releases more emissions into our air and water, and contributes more waste than reusable wood pallets.

Whilst plastic pallets can be recycled, when you follow the manufacturing chain of a plastic pallet from oil well, to refinery, to oil tanker, to the plastic processing plant and add up all the pollution and environmental stress that accumulates along the way, even something that ends up being recyclable doesn’t necessarily end up to be a champion of the environment.

Plastic, in any form, isn’t green in any measurable degree.

For cost comparison, plastic pallets are around 3 times more expensive than wooden pallets.

Check out our website http://www.pallets.co.uk/ for more information and specifications about our bespoke wooden pallets and cases. 

NATO/MOD Pallet information

PRECISION

Pallets & Cases Ltd

Oldham

OL4 2HA

Tel: 0161 729 9880

Fax: 0161 620 1066

Email: sales@pallets.co.uk

Website: www.pallets.co.uk

Precision pallets are proud of our long history of manufacturing timber NATO/MOD pallets to suppliers all over the United Kingdom and Europe.

We regularly supply quantities from one off’s, to full wagon loads.

MILITARY PALLETS FACTSHEET

Sourcing of military pallets and packaging for certain countries and armed forces of the world has been simplified by membership of NATO, which has standardized military pallet and lifting equipment design. NATO designated equipment tends to be more robust than commercial packaging. There are also non-standard military pallets.

NATO pallets come in three main categories

2 ton heat treated 3990-99-553-9869

1 ton wingless heat treated 3990-99-551-4301

1 ton wing heat treated 3990-99-666-3515

They can also be tanalised for shipping to Australia.

If you require any further information please contact Richard Leach.

#Precisionpallets #MOD #NATO #bespoke

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