18 PalletCentral • July-August 2019 palletcentral.com
ooden pallets and packaging materials
remain king of its industry, even when
other products, such as cardboard and
plastic pallets, are creating a conversation
around the attributes that pallet users
prefer.
Industry feelings are that while
demand for non-wooden pallets and
packing materials may still be
uncommon, customers are sometimes asking for them. Balancing
key priorities like worker safety, carbon footprint and total costs
is very complex, leaving customers sometimes confused and
seeking more information when weighing price, availability,
and recyclability.
First, consider the wooden pallet. Some in the industry
would call it "engineered for performance." The structural
properties include flexibility, durability and ease of use. Today
pallet manufacturers have the benefit of software programs that
integrate design specifications with performance requirements,
which lead to safer loads and more efficient use of lumber.
Wooden pallets are also cost effective. They are manufactured
with wood from sustainable forests, cost less to manufacture than
W
SUSTAINABILITY
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Illustration:
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T
Tipping
Points
By Esme Neely Smith
