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.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE PALLET DESIGN SYSTEM™ ADDS NEW LANGUAGES, BECOMES THE INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE OF PALLET DESIGN

INDUSTRY STANDARD SOFTWARE NOW PROVIDES PALLET SPECIFICATIONS AND ANALYSIS RESULTS IN ENGLISH, DUTCH, FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, PORTUGUESE, SPANISH AND SWEDISH.

ALEXANDRIA VA, March 2, 2018 – The National Wooden Pallet and Container Association (NWPCA) has released an updated version of the Pallet Design System™, PDS v.5.4©, that generates pallet specifications and analysis results in the following languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish.

Global demand for the most efficient, cost-effective, and safe pallet is drawing pallet manufacturers and pallet users to PDS, leading NWPCA to incorporate additional languages and further solidify PDS as the global standard for unit load pallet design. NWPCA President and CEO Brent McClendon states, “Adding new languages to PDS not only supports our rapid global expansion, but also provides a significant value to our diverse user-profile in North America.”

Shane Thompson, NWPCA’s Board Chair added, “These specific language selections fit seamlessly with our international membership, and the international flow of pallets. NWPCA and The Pallet Foundation investments in PDS, totaling nearly $1.5 million over the next two years, further solidify PDS as the international language for pallet design.”

PDS is the leading global pallet design software that designs the optimum pallet by scientifically determining the safe load carrying capacity, performance and material quantity needed. With the release of PDS v.5.4©, Users have the option to enter the design details, and view or print, in any of the languages for: pallet specification sheet, 2-D and 3-D pallet drawings, unit load specifications and drawings, pallet analysis results, and pallet production order.

CONTACT

Brad Gething, PhD
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 670 company members in 28 countries.

ABOUT PALLET DESIGN SYSTEM™

The Pallet Design System™ software provides fully engineered and safe pallet designs, delivered in a professional manner. Over 440 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.

State-Of-The-Art Engineering Drives Optimization

ALEXANDRIA VA, September 15, 2017 – Building on a 33-year history of innovation, the Pallet Design System™ (PDS) development team of software and structural engineers applied new, state-of-the-art, engineering and analysis techniques not previously used in the pallet industry. ANSYS™ simulation and 3-D modeling software was used as a tool to test and verify structural engineering models. The extensive modeling and testing ensures PDS users have access to the most advanced and accurate technology available for the design of wood pallets.

The robust engineering enables a much more refined analysis that allows for higher levels of pallet design optimization, additional analysis capabilities, and paves the way for future development of PDS. Additionally, PDS 5.3 provides automated calculations of stacking patterns for containers on pallet, or custom positioning of individual containers and a new strapping slot analysis for deckboards and stringers. The lateral collapse resistance analysis is also more detailed than previous versions.

“Our latest research and development has led to enhanced structural models for this release of PDS,” commented Kristen DeLack, PE, PDS Structural Engineer. “With these advancements, PDS now reports when the connection strength is the “critical member” that limits the strength of the pallet,” added DeLack.

For those who remanufacture pallets, the release of PDS 5.3 also enables users to analyze recycled pallets with notched stringers (except RAL and 4 Corner support conditions). “This was a very popular request among current PDS users that our team worked hard to develop this past year,” said Dr. Brad Gething, NWPCA Director of Science & Technology Integration.

The release of version 5.3 also coincides with the recent NWPCA announcement of the development of new user interface and print-out report materials in four additional languages: Spanish, French, Italian and German, to be completed in two phases by summer 2018.

The NWPCA is dedicating significant resources as part of the implementation of our strategic plan to ensure that PDS remains cutting edge technology and further solidifies PDS as the global standard for unit load pallet design. Shane Thompson, 2017 NWPCA’s Board Chair added, “Expect to see more from the PDS development team for 2018. NWPCA and the Pallet Foundation investments, totaling nearly $1.5 million over the next two years, will advance our industry and benefit each of our companies, as we make PDS the international language for pallet design.”

For more information on Pallet Design System™ 5.3, read the detailed product release.

CONTACT

Brad Gething, PhD
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 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. For more information on NWPCA, visit www.palletcentral.com.

ABOUT PALLET DESIGN SYSTEM™

The Pallet Design System™ software provides fully engineered and safe pallet designs, delivered in a professional manner. Over 430 major pallet manufacturers in 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

THE PALLET DESIGN SYSTEM™ FEATURES FOUR NEW LANGUAGES IN 2018

ALEXANDRIA VA, August 8, 2017 – The National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) is excited to announce the development of new capabilities for PDS that provides user interface and print-out report materials in four additional languages: Spanish, French, Italian and German.

The commitment to incorporate additional languages further solidifies PDS as the global standard for unit load pallet design. Brent McClendon, NWPCA’s President and CEO commented, “PDS is rapidly becoming the international language for pallet design. These specific language selections fit seamlessly with our rapid global expansion and future plans, while helping provide additional value to our diverse user-profile in North America.”

Shane Thompson, NWPCA’s Board Chair concurred, “NWPCA’s Board of Directors is investing heavily to expand the value of PDS to current licensees, and the multi-lingual functionality and report materials will be incredibly valuable to all of our users, no matter where they are located. These are exciting times for our users, as languages are just one part of the new features coming to PDS in 2017 and 2018.”

For more information on the Pallet Design System, visit www.palletdesignsystem.com.

CONTACT

Brad Gething, PhD
Director of Science & Technology Integration
Phone: 703.519.6104 Ext. 2015
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. For more information on NWPCA, visit www.palletcentral.com.

ABOUT PALLET DESIGN SYSTEM™

The Pallet Design System™ software provides fully engineered and safe pallet designs, delivered in a professional manner. Over 430 major pallet manufacturers in 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

THE PALLET FOUNDATION SMASHES PREVIOUS HISTORICAL RECORDS

ALEXANDRIA VA, March 31, 2017 – The sixteenth annual Pallet Foundation Auction held at the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) Annual Leadership Conference smashed through previous historical records. The fun-filled two-hour event at the Loews Ventana Resort in Tucson, Arizona raised a record $168,000 for The Pallet Foundation. During the event, the Western Pallet Association (WPA) presented The Pallet Foundation with an additional $70,000 raised at their auction in January, bringing the total amount raised already in 2017 to $238,000.

Governed by a volunteer board of trustees, The Pallet Foundation supports research, education, training, and safety in the wood packaging industry. The Foundation also supports testing, data collection and analysis for the Pallet Design System™ (PDS) and other related research projects.

During their recent March meeting, The Pallet Foundation trustees approved approximately $200,000 for funding new and innovative projects. Trustee Chairman Bob Wenner noted, “Our thanks go out to the members of the NWPCA and WPA. Their strong financial support is further testimony to the importance and value of the Foundation’s work.” Wenner continued, “This year’s record number of projects funded ensure that: 1) We better understand all the environmental benefits that wood packaging provides; 2) We further expand our outreach activities to universities and wood packaging consumers, and; 3) We support the ongoing development of PDS to assure it remains the globally-preferred software technology in the material handling industry.”

NWPCA President/CEO Brent McClendon said, “The association’s membership continues to show tremendous support of the Foundation. Through their support, we are expanding our work on successful initiatives like Nature’s PackagingTM, further developing PDS, and delivering solutions to tomorrow’s problems.”

CONTACT

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