The following are more recent projects funded by the Pallet Foundation.

• Wooden Pallet Industry Workforce Study: This workforce study sheds light on the challenges the wooden pallet industry is addressing. While these challenges impact various manufacturing sectors in our post-pandemic world, wooden pallet companies have been testing and implementing creative solutions specific to the industry. (National Association of Manufacturers, The Manufacturing Institute Center for Manufacturing Research, July 2023)
• Environmental Product Declaration for Wooden Pallets: To help the supply chain make informed decisions on the impact of their purchasing and specification of wood pallets- and highlight the renewable, biodegradable, reusable, and recyclable aspects the industry, the Pallet Foundation funded the first-ever EPD for pallets. The Life Cycle Assessment survey by the US Forest Service Forest Products Lab, a Product Category Rule with UL environment, and testing at Virginia Tech, combined with strong industry participation, provides a “nutrition label” for wood pallets that certifies a wood pallet’s strong environmental attributes. (USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Lab, UL Environment)
• Economic Impact Study: Wooden Pallet & Container Industry Supports 173,000 Jobs: A report on the totality of the economic contribution that the wooden pallet and container industry makes to the US economy was increasingly sought by government officials. The Pallet Foundation responded and funded a study that found that the industry has a direct or indirect impact on more than 173,000 jobs and generates a total economic impact of US$31 billion in economic activity. The study, performed in collaboration with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and The University of Maryland, illustrates the far-reaching positive effects of the industry. (NAM, January 2019)
• Landfill Avoidance: Research Shows Wooden Pallets are Recycled at 95% Rate: Wooden pallets are a success story in solid wood recycling in the United States. The number of pallets entering landfills has shrunk dramatically as industry soars in pallet reuse, recycling, and conversion into other materials, such as mulch, animal bedding, bioenergy. (Virginia Tech, March 2018):
• Comprehensive Look at U.S. Residuals Markets: As global consumer trends and demands continue to shift at an escalating pace, a research project shows that both structural and temporal market shifts in recent decades have impacted the markets for wood fiber residuals. Research conducted to better understand the relationship between the supply and demand of wood residual materials over a 14-year period. (Forest2Market, January 2019)
• Pallet Design System: Ongoing research and developments in the Pallet Design System™ software seeks to further increase the understanding of the relationships between the design and performance of wood pallets and the entire unit load, and to obtain even greater resource efficiencies in the future.