The wood pallet is one of the workhorses of our global economy, a key part of the system that moves just about every product we touch. On any given day, more than 1 billion pallets are in use in North America – more pallets than people! More than 3 billion pallets are used every year. More wood is devoted to pallets than housing. EarthPallet™ changes that.
Given its wide use, it is not surprising that the simple wood pallet is a significant environmental burden, and that the pallet industry is a silent environmental disaster. Pallet’s incredible use of forest resources changes the ecological balance of entire continents – 45% of America’s hardwood and 15% of its softwood is used in the pallet industry.
From the ecological degradation of transferring invasive insects from region to region to the constant pressure on native forest reserves worldwide, wooden pallets rank high on the list of “to do” habits of industry that need to change. The COP21 Climate Summit in Glasgow highlighted wooden pallets as a priority sector needing alternatives. The EarthPallet™ is that alternative and Sugarcane Bagasse Pallets change those numbers.
OF NOTE:
- Every year 3 million acres of our planet’s trees are destroyed to manufacture and produce the wooden pallets used to operate the distribution industry.
- To replenish 1 million acres of trees will take approximately 40 years. We need alternatives.
- Tufts University estimates that the Earth loses dozens of animal, plant, and insect species each day due to deforestation, equating to 50,000 species every single year.
- Wooden pallets are a major factor in our planet’s deforestation.
- 54% of wood pallets are used for only one shipment, and then either stored, burned, or thrown away.
- It is estimated that nearly 30% of CO₂ buildup in our atmosphere can be attributed to deforestation over the past 150 years. The pace of replacement of virgin forest with secondary managed forests is alarming. A secondary forest – and most “tree plantations” – are simply not healthy environments. Using agricultural waste is a sure route for lessening the needs of exploiting natural virgin forest reserves.
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions of a bagasse pallet versus a wood pallet is a reduction surpassing 50%. When handled correctly in disposal – by turning it into compost instead of burning it – the reduction can approach 100%, thereby achieving Net Zero Environmental Goals by diversion from landfills and avoidance of incineration.
In response to the detrimental effects of wooden pallets, plastic pallets were introduced in the early 21st Century. They were thought to be the much-needed environmental game changer in the pallet industry. However, this has not been the case. The Journal of Industrial Ecology concluded that plastic pallets in a broad Life Cycle Analysis were barely different from wood. Additionally, the long-term uncaptured economic externality of plastic makes it an intergenerational burden lasting hundreds of years as the forms of high-grade plastics used in pallets simply take forever to break down.
Ample research in recent years demonstrates that plastics of virtually all types are a long-term problem for disposal. The need is for natural and organic alternatives such as sugarcane bagasse that have the durability, strength and performance qualities of wood and plastic in a carbon-neutral manner while surpassing other desirable characteristics. Those alternatives are natural fibers.
It’s imperative to find a viable alternative – a natural alternative, such as bagasse.
