Wood pallet manufacturers and recyclers have a positive environmental message to share, but sometimes customers want data to prove the benefits of using wood over other materials for pallets.
Now you can use the Wood Waste Calculator on the new Nature’s Packaging website to provide client data based on real world numbers. The calculator provides the CO2 emissions saved per month (in metric tons), based on either the number of pallets reused, recycled or saved from landfills or the weight of the wood in pounds. It also tells the user how CO2 savings equate to taking a certain number of cars off the road. The analysis is based on models/standards provided by the Environmental Protection Agency.
For example, if you enter 800 in the calculator’s “Number of pallets” field indicating that you reuse, recycle or save that many pallets from the landfill each month, when you hit the “Calculate” button, the calculator shows that you save 22.50 metric tons of CO2 emissions per month, which is the equivalent to taking 77 automobiles off the road.
Nature’s Packaging is a North American initiative launched in March by the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association, the Canadian Wood Pallet & Container Association, and the Western Pallet Association, with help from the Pallet Foundation. Its purpose is to promote the environmental benefits of wood pallets and packaging and to show that wood as a material is a renewable and sustainable resource, a responsible choice and an economical one.
The Wood Waste Calculator can be found at http://naturespackaging.org/tools/carbon-calculators/, or simply go to the Nature’s Packaging website and then click on the “Carbon Calculators” option in the “Tools” drop-down on the main menu at the top of the page.
Besides the calculator, the Nature’s Packaging website has other free down-loadable resources such as videos, brochures, reports and other materials to help pallet manufacturers and recyclers market to their customers the positive track record of the wooden packaging sector.
