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January-February 2016

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Nature's Packaging The Nature's Packaging campaign is on a fast pace to a website launch in early March 2016 with active participation from wooden pallet industry members from the Western Pallet Association (WPA), National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA), and the Canadian Wood Pallet & Container Association (CWPCA). Last fall, these three associations, along with The Pallet Foundation, announced Nature's Packaging – a new five-year, $180,000 North American partnership – to develop and deliver sound, fact-based materials to wood packaging buyers. The NWPCA, WPA, and CWPCA also formed an Executive Committee with representation from each organization and created three sub-committees: web, research and marketing. Lindsey Shean, Valley Pallet, chairs the Marketing Committee; Glenn Meeks, Bettaway Transportation Logistics and Pallet Systems, chairs the Web Committee; and Brian Isard, CWPCA, is the Research Staff Lead. The Nature's Packaging Executive Committee also approved a logo which will be officially trademarked. The Pallet Foundation Chairman of the Board, Bob Wenner, Pallet Service Corporation, noted, "I am pleased to see all these organizations using their collective resources to increase the use of sustainable wooden packaging through educating and informing customers, packaging specialists and packaging students of wood's environmental benefits." Pallet Design System™ – Students on the Move NWPCA's Director of Science and Technology Integration, Dr. Brad Gething, and PDS Director, John McLeod, attended the final presentations by the four undergraduate interns at Virginia Tech who conducted a semester-long research project funded by NWPCA. These students are receiving scholarships as part of NWPCA's Gold Membership in the Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Their research was related to compression stress on corrugated boxes and the effects of box size, box contents, stiffness of pallet deckboards, and gaps between deckboards. McLeod worked "hands- on" with the students during their semester project, which included use of NWPCA's state-of-the-art digital pressure mat – the purchase of which was funded by a grant from The Pallet Foundation. The results of their research will be used in the development of advanced structural analysis models in PDS for wood pallets supporting unit loads of corrugated boxes. These undergraduate interns will be attending NWPCA's Annual Leadership Conference, and will be displaying posters of their research in an exhibit booth. There will also be a presentation by Dr. Gething and Dr. Laszlo Horvath (the students' Professor from Virginia Tech) related to this research. On the Road Again After the holidays, NWPCA immediately hit the ground running and participated at several industry and association events. On January 12-14, 2016, NWPCA Vice President of Advocacy and Government Affairs, Patrick Atagi, attended the UnitedFresh Midwinter Leadership Forum. The event brings together hundreds 8 PalletCentral • January-February 2016 palletcentral.com INSIDE NWPCA N W P C A A N N O U N C E M E N T S A N D U P C O M I N G E V E N T S

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