The wood pallet industry knows it has a good environmental story to tell. The Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for wood pallets proved it when released in 2020. Now, it is time to update the EPD and make it even better. And your participation is desperately needed to reach the total goal required for an effective EPD representing approximated industry totals. This call particularly goes out to new pallet producers in the United States.
The Pallet Foundation funded the initial development of the first wood pallet EPD survey that backed up the environmental claims of the industry with real-world data. It is funding this update effort, and the industry needs your help to get even better data.
The Pallet Foundation stated, “Maintaining that credibility means keeping the EPD current and accurate. That’s why the Pallet Foundation is funding its renewal—incorporating the latest methods for estimating the environmental impact of wood pallets to ensure the data remains relevant and reliable.”
The data collection efforts this year are open to any pallet manufacturer or pallet recycler in the United States. Dr. Brad Gething of the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association said, “Anyone can participate whether they did or didn’t in the past (although having the experience of doing it the first time will certainly help). We need data on over 100 million pallets, so the larger the facility(s), the more important their participation.”
To find out more, a recording of a webinar detailing the process is available to watch at https://www.palletcentral.com/page/lcasurvey. This website also has more information on how you can participate, including links to the forms and contact information for the research team.
“The industry has come a long way in just a few years, but the rhetoric against wood pallets is as strong as ever. We need to push back by producing the best information possible,” declared Kathleen Dietrich, chair of the Pallet Foundation.
In addition to an updated EPD analysis, the NWPCA will soon release a customized carbon calculator to estimate the environmental impacts of pallets manufactured at your facilities. The required inputs will closely align with those in the LCA survey. By completing the survey, you’re already one step ahead.
How has the EPD helped the pallet industry? Gething explained, “As an industry average, the EPD sets the baseline for the overall environmental impact of using wood pallets.”
Many pallet companies are concerned about their proprietary information. That’s why the NWPCA and the Pallet Foundation have teamed up with experts John Beath Environmental and Sustain-ability Consultants (JBE) to collect the data and crunch the numbers. Furthermore, your information will be shared with no one and kept strictly confidential. Only the JBE researchers will see it. If you have any privacy concerns, an NDA is available. Please help the industry improve and update this critical tool.
