Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1161332
20 PalletCentral • July-August 2019 palletcentral.com are availability and recyclability. While wooden pallets are easily sourced and recycled, plastic pallets can be harder to get dependent on location. And because of the increased expense of plastic pallets, companies cannot afford to not get back the pallets they ship out. Every year someone believes they've created a better mouse trap to the wooden pallet, Brent McClendon, president and CEO of the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association says, "Almost every one of those mouse traps reinforces why people love wood. Wood is versatile, it's durable, it's efficient, it's highly customizable and because of the focus on sustainability, wood really wins." Durability is also fairly comparable between wooden and plastic pallets. And here these two products separate themselves from cardboard pallets which are generally not seen as being able to safely transport most palleted products nor do they give a sense of sustainability. At the same time, cardboard pallets are being used in a small segment of the market – a share that may grow only 2 percent to 3 percent in the coming years. Wood is still considered the product of choice for pallets and packaging materials, not just because of the cost, sustainability and recyclability, but because the general economics of shipping and logistics – and the use of forklifts, storage systems, truck sizes – give the advantage to wooden pallets as these systems are all designed with the standard wooden pallet in mind. Considering all the advantages of wood it is easy to see why it is still king of the pallet industry. PC SUSTAINABILITY Esme Neely Smith is a freelance writer and photographer in Annapolis, MD. She has previously written on numerous topics including boating, education, real estate, retailing, business and the environment. She can be reached at esme.neely.smith@gmail.com. Many companies not only reuse pallets as they are, but they have the resources to repair to "fit-for-use" criteria to ensure the "new" pallet meets performance criteria for the secondary user. And pallets no longer usable for such can be chipped for a number of animal bedding, farm and garden uses. Even the nails can be recycled.