VINELAND, N.J. — Michael Smith, President and C.O.O. of PALNET, a leading nationwide supplier of shipping pallets, issued a statement today regarding the environmental impact of plastic versus wood pallets. According to Smith, “For all the green rhetoric being tossed around today by the manufacturers of plastic pallets about their sustainability and recyclable nature, the facts are still the facts. Wooden pallets made from the unusable trims of the lumbering process are greener, cleaner and more environmentally friendly by a mile.”
Smith responded to a recent press release issued by a manufacturer of plastic pallets stated their desire to “be responsible stewards of the environment” and described their pallet as being “100 percent recyclable.”
When you follow the manufacturing chain of a plastic pallet from oil well, to refinery, to oil tanker, to the plastic processing plant — and add up all the pollution and environmental stress that accumulates along the way, “100 percent recyclable” doesn’t necessarily end up to be a champion of the environment.
Among the 47 chemical plants ranked highest in carcinogenic emissions by the EPA, 35 are involved in plastic production. “The long and short of it is,” adds Smith, “plastic, whether in bags, bottles or pallets could be public enemy #1 to any environmentally-conscious group or person.”
Wooden pallets, on the other hand, have always had a story and a product that is sustainable. According to the EPA, when wood pallets reach the end of their useful life they can be converted into value-added products like wood flooring or replacement parts for other pallets.
When a pallet is recycled in this way, it generates approximately $0.25 when sold as boiler fuel, $1.00 for replacement parts, and potentially $5.00 to $8.00 when processed into products such as flooring.
According to Smith, “PALNET pallets are the greenest part of the supply chain. We use scrap lumber from sustainable sources, never virgin hardwoods. They are constantly repaired and recycled and when no longer useable, they’re ground up into mulch or stove pellets. They’re green from cradle to grave and actually help clean up the environment by reducing waste. And nothing is greener than that.”
For more information on PALNET, visit http://www.PALNETUSA.com or call 1-877-PALNET-1.
