24 WESTERN PALLET
•Historic lumber and core pricing.
•Shortages for major pallet poolers send ag sector scurrying for pallets.
•Severe labor shortages and skyrocketing labor rates.
•Distribution centers hold more pallet stock, release less onto open market.
•Sharp rise for pallet demand, sustained into 2022 (particularly for used pallets)
•Major consolidation trend in the recycled industry hits into high gear.
•Recyclers turn to combos and recycled lumber for material supply.
•More COVID strains and disruptions… Government Regulation Uncertainty!
•Severe nail, supply and transportation shortages.
•Historic inflation.
to the detriment of any one sector over another.”
Generally speaking, the sustainability case for wood pallets is very strong. It is potentially carbon positive, with offsets outweighing emissions. Wood stores carbon “borrowed” from the atmosphere and then eventually returns it at a point in the future.
One question that is currently being looked at by experts is how fast trees sequester carbon versus how fast the wood product might be returning it into the atmosphere. “This is a complicated question that experts are still really trying to understand further, but it really has long-term implications for things like burning wood for biofuel,” he said.
In contrast to the much shorter life of wood packaging, a wood home might last for 100 years or two to four growing cycles of timber and thus be more compelling as a carbon storage example.
There is also discussion around whether forests are more valuable standing versus being harvested for carbon sequestration. Dr. Gething noted that healthy forests grow faster and are more resistant to decay. On the other hand, as mature trees start to die, they begin returning carbon into the atmosphere. “How do we manage our forests so they sequester carbon optimally and minimize decay?” he asked.
Such questions could be a good thing, he noted because if we think about it from a carbon standpoint, “we might be cutting more wood in the future in order to minimize this decay, because we know we can then sequester that wood in wood products, rather than it just decomposing on the forest floor.”
The question of pallet longevity is also important to the carbon conversation. Due to a lack of verifiable data, an assumption of only one repair was made for the wooden pallet EPD. “I know that’s very conservative, but we couldn’t certify a better number than that,” he said. “The Association is working on how do we come up with a better way to certify the longevity of packaging.”
“It's an evolving topic,” he continued. "And the thing I can commit to here is that we're closely monitoring this topic. And as things evolve, where we're going to be on top of it.”
Dr. Gething stressed the importance of industry members becoming conversant about the carbon question. He emphasized that you don’t need to be an expert, but it is useful to be able to communicate some the basics, such as that solid wood is renewable, reusable and recyclable, and that the carbon in wood comes from the atmosphere. When we make a pallet, we are borrowing it and storing it in a pallet bank.
Carbon Conversation
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