Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1505351
6 PalletCentral • July-August 2023 palletcentral.com 2023 SEASON SPONSORS Kiln-Direct.com 910-259-9794 | kiln-direct.com Mid Continent Steel and Wire 800-867-6245 | magnumfasteners.com Pallet Machinery Group 540-644-9220 | palletmachinery.com Pendu Manufacturing 717-354-4348 | pendu.com Profile Technology 800-369-4242 | profiletech.com PRS Group 217-291-0009 | prsgroupinc.com Rotochopper 320-548-3586 | rotochopper.com Smart Products 800-401-0099 | smartproductsinc.com Smith Sawmill Service 800-598-6344 | smithsawmillservice.com Universal Fastener Outsourcing 800-352-0028 | nailscrews.com Vecoplan 336-861-6070 | vecoplanllc.com Viking Engineering & Development 800-328-2403 | vikingeng.com Board Officers Chair Nick Wenner, Pallet Service Corp. Chair-Elect Jeff Lewis, Atlanta Pallets & Services Past Chair Carolyn Beach-Skinner, Westside Pallet Secretary/Treasurer Hinton Howell, Cottondale Wood Products Director at Large LeRoi Cochran, 48forty Solutions President/CEO Brent McClendon, CAE Board of Directors Michelle Blizzard, Pallet Central Enterprises Henry Bowman, C&L Wood Products Dominick Davi, Greenway Products & Services Kathleen Dietrich, Commercial Lumber & Pallet Justin Hegsted, Challenger Pallet & Supply Alex Jimenez, Jimenez Pallets Justin Kamps, Kamps, Inc. Bryan Kesting, Madison County Wood Products Kate Matz Ben Remmey, Remmey – The Pallet Company Lindsey Shean-Snowden, Pallet Logistics of America Beatrice Vasquez, Oxnard Pallet Company Scott Vipond, Girard Wood Products Associate's Representative Bruce Kennedy, Mid Continent Steel and Wire International Directors Mike Vrugteveen, Niagara Pallet & Recyclers Fernando Lopez Bello, Losifra, S.A. de C.V. W e used to talk about sustainability in the abstract. at is no longer the case. e conversations are real now. e policymakers care. Your customers care. Your employees care. No matter where you live, these critical conversations occur daily from Topeka, Kansas to Toronto, Canada to Toulouse, France. e conversations are now all about solutions. And wood pallets and wood packaging are perfectly positioned to provide those answers. We have a product that improves the planet with every use. ink about that for a moment. Using more wood pallets is a solution to meeting decarbonization goals. e third-party certified Environmental Product Declaration for Wood Pallets funded by the Pallet Foundation clearly makes that case. We have a product that is, by definition, circular. e life cycle of the pallet from the original manufacturer, through multiple handlings, repairs, and reuses, ultimately ends up being converted into wood pellets (reducing our demands for fossil fuels), mulch or animal bedding, or any number of other essential uses. at is why wood pallets have a 95% reuse/ recycling rate, the largest by far of any packaging product. We have an infinitely customizable product. You can meet any need that the market presents, solve any problem with wood (and with the help of our Pallet Design System,™ I'd like to add). is very fact that ensures wood pallets have a market share of over 90 percent. We have a product that is made from a sustainable, biodegradable, durable material … wood. We have more trees now than we had in 2007, as annual forest growth exceeds harvest. In addition, the U.S. and Canada together plant more than 1.6 billion trees annually. Our resource is sustainable and growing. As you have conversations in your community, with school groups, or with your employees, customers, and policymakers, consider these aspects as you highlight (and celebrate) how wood pallets are the sustainable solution. No matter where you live. Wood pallets and wood packaging solve the most complex supply-chain challenges. Isn't it nice that they also solve some of our toughest global environmental challenges too? Together, let's continue these sustainability conversations and work towards a more sustainable future. Sincerely, Brent J. McClendon, CAE NWPCA President/CEO FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO Sustainability Conversations. Sustainability Solutions.