palletcentral

Research Paper FPL–RP–707 4 1 Introduction Packaging is an important component of the complex global supply chain of many products. Currently, in the United States, more than 1.8 billion pallets are in service and are used for transportation of a variety of goods each day (NWPCA 2020). About 90% of these pallets are made from wood. This trend is expected to increase 1.9% annually (NWPCA 2016; PR Newswire 2015; Freedonia Group 2015, 2020). According to Gerber and others (2020), more than 513 million new wooden pallets were produced in 2016. Increasing public awareness of environmental issues has led to demand for better environmental performance from products in conjunction with maintaining the best cost option for consumers. It is critical for manufacturers to document their environmental performance to satisfy customer demand for environmentally sound and low impact products (Bergman and Taylor 2011, Ritter and others 2011). To achieve this, a comprehensive environmental assessment of U.S. wooden pallet production is required. This LCA study was completed in accordance with the UL Environment product category rule (PCR) for wooden pallets (UL Environment 2019a) and ISO standards 14040 and 14044 (ISO 2006a, 2006b). 1.1 Study Goals and Applications 1.1.1 Goals of the Study The key goal of this study was to quantify the environmental impacts of the wooden pallet primary manufacturing and recycling in the United States. For this purpose, an industry- average cradle-to-grave LCI was developed and a cradle-to- grave LCIA was performed for the year 2018. 1.1.2 Intended Uses The expected outcomes included an environmental performance assessment of the current state of U.S. wooden pallet manufacturing for domestic and international consumption using up-to-date data. The outputs can be used for identification of environmental hotspots and areas of improvement in the wooden pallet sector that would further enhance existing efforts toward sustainable manufacturing and help create value for customers. This study can be used by pallet manufacturers to benchmark comparisons of environmental performance. Using the LCA developed in this project, a wooden pallet environmental product declaration (EPD) will be created by the NWPCA for a generalized pallet. This wooden pallet EPD will provide independently verified, comparable, and objective information on environmental performance of wooden pallet production and use in the United States (ISO 2006c). 1.1.3 Intended Audience The findings will be useful to wood product manufacturers, LCA researchers, policy makers, and consumers concerned with the environmental aspects and the sustainability of the product. This work can support industry members and decision makers that seek opportunities to enhance environmental sustainability of pallet operations, use, and disposal. Also, wooden pallet EPDs that provide transparent, verified, and comparable data based on objective facts will be produced. This will allow customers to compare products based on their environmental performance under the same PCR (UL Environment 2019a, ISO 2006c). Other intended audiences include product manufacturers that use wooden pallets in their supply chain to transport goods. 1.1.4 Comparative Assertions This LCA report does not include comparative assertions. Because future studies may perform product comparisons, this LCA study is consistent with the guidelines and principles of ISO standards 14040 and 14044 and is compliant with the wooden pallet PCR (UL Environment 2019a). 1.2 Scope of the Study The scope of this LCA study covers the life-cycle stages of wooden pallet manufacturing starting with forest resource activities and continuing through end-of-life. This study represents wooden pallet primary manufacturing in the United States, including analyses of wooden pallets with different feedstock material (i.e., softwood and hardwood) and focusing on pallets that may be used multiple times, because these products represent the wooden pallet market in the United States (HMR 2017, 2018). The analyses were performed from cradle-to-grave including raw material supplies and transportation, product manufacturing, product transportation, re-use, recycling, recovery, and disposal of pallets (Fig. 1). The infrastructure and manufacturing, maintenance, and disposal of production equipment used in the system were not considered within the scope of this study, which was in line with the PCR. The product use phase, which includes transportation of goods using wooden pallets, is subject to high variability and uncertainty. Therefore, it was also left outside the scope of this study (UL Environment 2019a, Anil and others 2020). In compliance with the PCR, environmental impacts associated with the use phase are quantified as additional information and presented in Section 3.2. Transportation of raw materials, primary pallets, recovered pallets, and disposed pallets were accounted for. There are two main categories of wooden pallet designs used in the United States: stringer class (Fig. 2) and block class (Fig. 3) assembly. The major functional difference between stringer and block pallets is the number of openings that accept handling equipment. Block pallets are designed to have access for full four-way entry by forklifts and pallet jacks. Alternatively, stringer pallets are designed for access on two sides. However, stringer pallets can be converted to a partial four-way entry pallet by notching the stringers.

• Cover