Why Pallets?
European Shipping Pallet
Why Pallets?
Production
- In the United Sates over 2 Billion Pallets are in circulation and over 800 million are produced annually. Of the 800 million produced over 500 million are made from new wood.(1)
- During the production of these 500 million pallets, we use over 40% of America’s hardwood harvest and invest over $29 billion dollars.(2)
Use
Shipping pallets are used for an average of 1.7 shipments, even though many are durable and designed for multiple uses. To compound the problem, over 50% of pallets are created as single use, leaving over 250 million single use pallets laying in warehouses to rotting away annually.(3)
Disposal
- Each year we dispose of over 4.2 million tons of pallet materials at landfills as waste, while other are broken down and ground up for use as landscape mulch, compost, soil amendment, or animal bedding, ending their functional life.
- One common method of disposal is for the pallets to be picked up for recycling or resale. However, recyclers due to costs require a minimum of 100 pallets for pickup. This leads to many warehouses with a few pallets, not enough to pick up but still quality usable wood. If the pallets sit outside and become damp from rain, damaging the wood, the wood is rendered useless for further economic value.
Where Artful Planters Comes In
Through partnerships with local warehouses and businesses that have surplus pallets but not enough for recycling, we will pick them up for upcycling into new products. We envision Artful Planters as the beginning of our product line, looking to ever expand into a home décor brand focused around upcycling wood products.
unitload.vt.edu/presentations/Korea.pdf
http://www.igps.net/pdf/iGPS_WoodVsPlastic.pdf
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/oea/berc/pallets.cfm
