Many misconceptions exist about the environmental sustainability of different pallets and pallet programs. The debate centers on two major variables: raw material used to construct the pallet and the way the pallet program operates. In order to make an intelligent decision regarding your pallet program, you need facts.
RUMOR: There are only three types of pallet platforms: pooled plastic, pooled wood, and one-way wood pallets.
FACT: IFCO’s 48x40 reusable wood stringer pallets do not fall into any of the three categories above, and are the most commonly used pallet platform in the world.
RUMOR: Plastic pallets are better for the environment than wood.
FACT: The production of a reusable wood pallet requires just one-eighth of the raw material as a comparable plastic pallet. Plastic pallets consume more energy, release more emissions into our air and water, and contribute more waste than reusable wood pallets.
RUMOR: Wood pallets require the destruction of trees and are therefore bad for the environment.
FACT: Trees are rarely cut down to make pallets; they are cut down for more valuable items such as building materials and furniture. New pallets are built from the unattractive lumber that is left over from this process. It would likely be discarded if not made into pallets. Recycled pallets are built from existing pallets.
RUMOR: Wood pallets end up in landfills.
FACT: IFCO does not dispose of our reusable, recycled wood pallets - it is contrary to our business model. Instead, we retrieve them from retailers and repair them to make them usable again. If a pallet can no longer be repaired, it is turned into useful, marketable products such as landscape mulch, animal bedding, and wood stove pellets. Less than 3% of the nearly 700 million pallets manufactured and repaired each year end up in landfills, according to a study by Virginia PolyTechnic Institute and the USDA Forestry Service.
RUMOR: Pooled pallets are “reusable”. Wood pallets that are not pooled are called single-use, one-way pallets.
FACT: Not only are 48x40 stringer pallets reusable, they are reusable by anyone - not just a pallet pooler. Single-use pallets do exist, but they comprise a small percentage of the wood pallets used today. The majority of wood pallets are actually multi-use or reusable pallets, such as IFCO’s. After use, they are retrieved, repaired, and redeployed again and again (see Figure 1).
RUMOR: All 48x40 wood pallets are the same size and weight.
FACT: Pooled block pallets take up 10-15% more space in a trailer and weigh approximately twice as much as recycled wood pallets. A block pallet’s increased size and weight increases the number of trailer loads needed, consumes more fuel, increases your carbon footprint, and drives up supply chain costs.
RUMOR: Pooled pallet and reusable pallet programs require the same amount of transportation.
FACT: IFCO’s reusable pallets are retrieved at the end of the supply chain and redeployed locally to manufacturers. Pooled pallets must be transported (repositioned) from the end of the supply chain to one of a few depots around the country, then shipped back out to manufacturers elsewhere.
RUMOR: Life-cycle analysis (LCA) studies have shown pooled wood pallets to be environmentally superior to all other types of wood pallets.
FACT: The LCA studies completed to date evaluate only pooled plastic, pooled wood, one-way wood pallets, and pallet exchange programs, failing to include reusable pallet systems like IFCO’s, which are the primary pallet model used globally. The findings of these studies prove only that pooled pallet systems are better for the environment than one-way or single-use pallets.
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