March 12, 2020: Last night, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, signed into regulation language that opens the path for wood pallet residuals to be sold as wood pellet fuel. NWPCA’s Vice President of Advocacy and External Affairs Patrick Atagi said, “NWPCA members were able to be proactive and change existing federal regulation that had previously prevented recycled wood pallets from being used in pellet fuel.” Atagi continued, “I’m very proud of NWPCA members, the pallet industry, and EPA to make this change – it shows working-together-works! A special shout-out to BDL Supply, CHEP/Brambles, Hay Creek Pallet Co., Industrial Pallets, Northland Pallet, Vecoplan Midwest and WestWind Logistics for their time, energy and tremendous support.”

On March 16, 2015, EPA issued a final rule revising the Standards of Performance for New Residential Wood Heaters. 80 Fed. Reg. 13,671 (Mar. 16, 2015). In that rule, EPA promulgated regulations governing requirements for pellet fuel. EPA also listed a variety of prohibited fuel sources. One such category of sources was “Railroad ties, pressure-treated wood or pallets.” The language inadvertently, but effectively, prevented wood pallets from being certified as wood pellet fuel. The pallet industry prides itself on its environmental footprint; including a 95% recover, recycle rate that leads the landfill avoidance rate of all competing packaging materials.

With the passage of this revised regulation, the wooden pallet industry can maintain and grow its recycling rate even further. This is a fantastic win for the environment, the industry, and NWPCA members – job well done!

CONTACT

Patrick Atagi
Vice President, Advocacy & External Affairs
703.519.6104
Email

NWPCA RELEASES PALLET DESIGN SYSTEM™ 6.0

GROUND-BREAKING UNIT LOAD DESIGN TOOL MINIMIZES DAMAGE, MAXIMIZES PROFIT

ALEXANDRIA VA, September 25, 2019 – The National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) announces the release of PDS 6.0, the most advanced software tool in the world that considers the interactions between a flexible wood pallet and corrugated boxes. The tool uses world-leading science and modeling that allows pallet designers to prevent cargo damage, while optimizing cost and material efficiency.

“Unit Load for Boxes takes technology normally associated with space flight, race cars, and jet engines and uses it to gain insight into wooden pallet and unit load design,” commented Kristen DeLack, PE, PDS structural engineer. “We’re excited to take all this know-how and put it into the hands of wooden pallet manufacturers,” added Brent McClendon, NWPCA President and CEO.

Jordan Piland, NWPCA’s Board Chair said, “Expect to see more from the PDS development team for 2020. PDS 6.0 Unit Load for Boxes is just the first installment of system-level unit load design and analysis tools in PDS; drums, plastic pails, and sheet goods will follow.” Piland added, “NWPCA and The Pallet Foundation investments, totaling nearly $1.5 million over the next two years, advance our industry and benefit each of our companies, making PDS the international language for pallet design.”

For more information on Pallet Design System™ 6.0, read the detailed product release.

CONTACT

Brad Gething, PhD
NWPCA Director of Science & Technology Integration
Phone: 703.519.6104 Ext. 215
Email

ABOUT THE NATIONAL WOODEN PALLET & CONTAINER ASSOCIATION

The National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) is the largest organization of wood packaging professionals in the world, with more than 650 company members around the world who manufacture, repair and distribute pallets and wood packaging in unit-load solutions, or who supply products and services to the industry.

ABOUT PALLET DESIGN SYSTEM™

The Pallet Design System™ software provides fully engineered and safe pallet designs, delivered in a professional manner. Nearly 450 major pallet manufacturers in more than 30 countries around the world use PDS to create 3-D designs that are comprehensive, detailed and efficient. In addition to predicting safe load capacity and deflection under load, PDS provides detailed specifications in 2-D and 3-D drawings for virtually any wood pallet design. PDS is a proprietary software of the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association. For more information on PDS, visit www.palletdesignsystem.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GLOBAL WOOD PACKAGING WEBSITE LAUNCHED

March 8, 2019 – A collaboration of allied wood packaging organizations and representatives from around the world are proud to announce a new website launch, globalwoodpackagingforum.org. The Global Wood Packaging Forum website offers a clean, modern design, easy navigation, and helpful tools and resources for wood packaging professionals and their affiliates worldwide.

Membership in The Global Wood Packaging Forum includes Fédération Européenne des Fabricants de Palettes et Emballages en Bois (FEFPEB) – the European Federation of Wooden Pallet and Packaging Manufacturers, based in Tilburg, Netherlands; The National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) based in Alexandria, Virginia, United States; The Canadian Wood Pallet and Container Association (CWPCA) based in Ontario, Canada; in addition to wood packaging professionals from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Brazil and South Africa.

“This website for the Global Wood Packaging Forum properly aligns with our vision for global collaboration, allowing us to share and address regional and international issues our industry faces that affect trade,” said Fons Ceelaert, FEFPEB Secretary General.

CWPCA General Manager Scott Geffros said, “We are excited about the ability of the website to collect and share important resources and connect the global industry. Wood Packaging professionals will be able to access numerous research studies, articles, web sites and other tools addressing frequently requested topics related to wood packaging with ease and convenience.”

“The international wood packaging community is working closer together than ever before, and this website is another clear symbol of that cooperation. We are thrilled to work with our international colleagues on this website,” noted Brent McClendon, NWPCA President and CEO.

CONTACT

Annette Ferri
NWPCA Vice President, Communications
+1.703.519.6104
Email

ABOUT THE GLOBAL WOOD PACKAGING FORUM

To serve as a forum of global dialogue among national and regional industry associations and their leadership to cooperate in the development of common positions on issues of mutual interest; represent the wooden packaging and container industry with global policy organizations; and coordinate action and distribute information through member associations.

INCLUDES FULL USER INTERFACE IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES, ADDS NEW WOOD SPECIES, AND FORKLIFT SUPPORT ANALYSES

September 7, 2018 – As part of a $1.5 million commitment by the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association (NWPCA) to enhance the industry standard for wood pallet design, the Pallet Design System v.5.6 is the most comprehensive and advanced global design tool in the industry.

“This latest expansion is tremendously valuable to pallet manufacturers, no matter where we are, or where our customers are located. PDS users can now design, and print specifications in multiple languages,” said NWPCA Board Chair Larry Howell of Cottondale Wood Products based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

KEY FEATURES

• Operates in multiple languages, allowing businesses with a growing diverse workforce to operate more efficiently in their native or preferred language. Language options include: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish.
• Twenty new international wood species for lumber specification enables manufacturers to design pallets with regional wood species from around the world.
• Forklift support analysis for entering and lifting from a pallet’s side, particularly useful for analyzing extra-long stringer pallets.

NWPCA President and CEO Brent McClendon added, “We recognize that manufacturers source both domestic and imported wood species, therefore, it was an important enhancement for PDS to incorporate twenty new international wood species for lumber specification.”

Howell continued, “NWPCA’s Board has ramped up funding for PDS to assure it has the features and functionality demanded by pallet manufacturers and their customers. I’m looking forward to the next PDS release, which includes features incredibly beneficial for both U.S. and global users.”

The Pallet Foundation and NWPCA provide research and development investments to make PDS the international language for pallet design. Learn more about PDS v.5.6 and download a 14-day trial at www.palletdesignsystem.com.

CONTACT

Annette Ferri
Vice President of Communications
Email
703.519.6104

ABOUT THE NATIONAL WOODEN PALLET & CONTAINER ASSOCIATION

The National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) is the largest organization of wood packaging professionals in the world, with more than 670 company members in 30 countries.

ABOUT PALLET DESIGN SYSTEM™

The Pallet Design System™ software provides fully engineered and safe pallet designs, delivered in a professional manner. Over 460 major pallet manufacturers in 30 countries around the world use PDS to create 3-D designs that are comprehensive, detailed and efficient. PDS is a proprietary software of the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association. Click for more information on PDS.

STUDY SHOWS 95% OF WOODEN PALLETS ARE RECYCLED

INDICATING SIGNIFICANT GAINS IN LANDFILL AVOIDANCE

ALEXANDRIA VA, March 29, 2018 – Preliminary results of a research project conducted by Virginia Tech on the disposal of wood pallets at landfill sites reveal that 95% of wooden pallets are being recycled.

The landfill avoidance study was independently conducted at Virginia Tech over the course of two years. Both municipal and solid waste (MSW) and construction and demolition (C&D) landfill facilities were surveyed to better understand how pallets were being handled at these facilities.

According to the study, the number of pallets entering the landfill reduced by 86%, for both MSW and C&D facilities. Environmental awareness, limited space and a desire to be more waste efficient have driven many of these facilities to sort and recover certain types of waste. The overall presence of wood pallets at landfill facilities has also significantly decreased.

“Our industry is thrilled that the data proves the wood packaging sector, more than any other, is closing in on zero-waste,” said Larry Howell of Cottondale Wood Products and NWPCA Chair. “Wood pallets are 100% recyclable, and the newest research from Virginia Tech shows that our industry has the highest recovery rate at 95%, compared to other prevalent materials.”

“Data of this kind had not been collected since 1998,” said Dr. Brad Gething, NWPCA Director of Science and Technology Integration. “The wood packaging sector has long been touting their recyclable efforts for decades, and now the data proves it.” Wooden pallets get used, reused, and when they are no longer useful, they are converted to mulch, animal bedding or biofuel.

“Of those wooden pallets that arrive at landfills, both MSW and C&D facilities recycle even further,” added Dr. Laszlo Horvath, Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech. “The results show that landfill facilities have increased their wood and wood pallet recovery areas over the past two decades. For MSW facilities, this number increased from 33% to 62% of facilities, while for C&D facilities, the number increased from 27% to 45%.”

“It’s great news for our environment, as well as the public. Landfill facilities provide recycled by-products, such as mulch, to their local communities,” said Brent McClendon, CAE, NWPCA President & CEO. The preliminary results of the landfill avoidance study, along with a recent industry market survey, are being submitted for peer-reviewed journals. Learn more about the research study.

The research project was funded in part by the USDA Forest Service and The Pallet Foundation.

CONTACT

Annette Ferri
Vice President of Communications
Phone: 703.519.6104 ext. 207
Email

ABOUT THE NATIONAL WOODEN PALLET & CONTAINER ASSOCIATION

The National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) is the largest organization of wood packaging professionals in the world, with more than 670 company members in 28 countries who manufacture, repair and distribute pallets and wood packaging in unit-load solutions, or who supply products and services to the industry.

ABOUT THE PALLET FOUNDATION

Formed in 1996, The Pallet Foundation, a 501(c) charitable foundation, supports research, education/training and safety in the wood packaging industry while promoting the industry to end-user markets. Learn more about The Pallet Foundation.