Fun Facts About Pallets

It’s a fact; a pallet is an indispensable object in the global economy. Without these rigid platforms, usually made from wood or plastic, you or I would not have access to food and all the other consumer products we rely on daily.

Must-Know Facts About Pallets

To honor the humble pallet, we scoured the net for some fun facts and interesting stats.  Feel free to use these at your next party or networking event to see if you can “stump” someone…

• • Did you know?  Over 70% of all wooden pallets are now recycled – a much higher recycling rate than for aluminum, paper, or plastic.
  • True or False?  Wooden pallets can be chipped into fuel…True! This is currently the cheapest form of heat energy on the market and is a sustainable and renewable source of fuel for heating or power.

• A pooled pallet has a better lifespan than a non-pooled wooden pallet, but its high weight results in higher transport costs and thereby greater carbon footprint.
• Trees are generally not cut down to make pallets. The wood used for pallets is a by-product of the timber used in the construction of houses and furniture.
• There are more trees in the United States today than there were 70 years ago and the number of new trees still increases annually.
• U.S. industry harvests just 42% of the annual growth in hardwood timber that is biologically available to harvest.
• There are more than 1.8 billion pallets in service in the United States each day. Ninety-three percent of these pallets are made from wood.
• At the end of their life, over 97% of wood pallets are further recycled into boiler fuel, mulch, wood pellets, or animal bedding.

Sources:

https://www.nationalpallets.co.uk/blog/pallets-versus-environment-five-key-facts
http://www.bdlsupply.com/pallets.html
https://www.palletcentral.com/page/DidYouKnow