Containerization for transport has spurred the use of pallets because the shipping containers have the clean, level surfaces needed for easy pallet movement. Most pallets can easily carry a load of 1,000 kg (2,205 lb). Today, over half a billion pallets are made each year and about two billion pallets are in use across the United States alone.

Pallets make it easier to move heavy stacks. Loads with pallets under them can be hauled by forklift trucks of different sizes, or even by hand-pumped and hand-drawn pallet jacks. Movement is easy on a wide, strong, flat floor: concrete is excellent. A forklift truck can cost the same as a luxury automobile, but a good reconditioned hand-drawn pallet jack costs only a few hundred dollars. The greatest investment is thus in the construction of commercial or industrial buildings where the use of pallets could be economical. Passage through doors and buildings must be possible. To help this issue, some later pallet standards (the europallet and the U.S. Military 35 × 45.5 in/889 × 1,156 mm) are designed to pass through standard doorways.

Organizations using standard pallets for loading and unloading can have much lower costs for handling and storage, with faster material movement than businesses that do not. The exceptions are establishments that move small items such as jewelry or large items such as cars. But even they can be improved. For instance, the distributors of costume jewelry normally use pallets in their warehouses and car manufacturers use pallets to move components and spare parts.

The lack of a single international standard for pallets causes substantial continuing expense in international trade. A single standard is difficult because of the wide variety of needs a standard pallet would have to satisfy: passing doorways, fitting in standard containers, and bringing low labor costs. For example, organizations already handling large pallets often see no reason to pay the higher handling cost of using smaller pallets that can fit through doors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet

Ontario Company Using Bandit Beast Recycler for Grinding Wood Packaging Material into Quality Mulch

DRESDEN, Ontario — The forest products industry has learned how to get significantly more value from wood fiber in the past 25 years. As a result, an area that once was nearly an invisible part of the industry has risen to become one of its most vital sectors. Today, because of the efforts of companies like Wood Waste Disposal Ltd. and suppliers such as Bandit Industries, the concept of wood waste is becoming extinct.

Residuals produced by sawmills, secondary products manufacturers, and other members of the forest products industry are no longer viewed as waste. Now they are viewed as the raw material for yet another level of product — and an additional source of revenue and profit.

Wood Waste Disposal manufactures a valuable product out of material that used to be a burden to the forest products industry as well as to society, noted owner Mark Smith. Residual wood fiber once was a solid waste disposal challenge, considered something only to be burned or buried. Now, businesses like Wood Waste Disposal are using it to create valuable products. “I’m proud to be part of an industry that has brought about that transformation in the way we look at what used to be called waste,” said Mark.

Mark founded Wood Waste Disposal as the result of personal adversity. He was injured in an automobile accident in 1988. After the accident, he re-evaluated what he was doing in life and considered new options. He came across a newspaper article about wood recycling and grinding. He quickly became fascinated with the idea of making a product out of what other businesses discarded. Before long, he was in business. “I rolled the dice and, after a lot of very hard work, saw it pay off in what we have built here at Wood Waste Disposal,” he said.

Wood Waste Disposal is based in Dresden, Ontario, only a few dozen miles from the U.S. border near Detroit, Michigan. The company is located near the heartland of the manufacturing infrastructure of both Canada and U.S. The region has abundant manufacturers with large volumes of wood waste to dispose of — excess and scrap pallets, crates, and boxes used to ship raw materials, parts or components from suppliers. As the manufacturing sector has grown, Mark noted, disposal of broken or otherwise unusable shipping materials has become a serious challenge. It also has grown more expensive as landfill costs have increased and incineration has became an environmentally unpopular option. Many of these manufacturing businesses have turned to Wood Waste Disposal.

Mark began to serve these customers with a grinding machine and a lot of determination to build a company that could convert the region’s wood waste into a viable product. After years of experiments and some setbacks, he came up with a concept that has turned his company around and positioned it for what looks like a bright future. Mark combined roll-off boxes for collecting wood waste from customers with the grinding performance of the Bandit Industries Model 3680 Beast Recycler®.

Mark was “pushed” into buying a roll-off truck and boxes by a customer that wanted an easy way to collect wood waste and deliver it to Wood Waste Disposal — without the hassles and costs of loading and unloading by hand or machine. The roll-off boxes worked perfectly for the customer and Mark’s company, and he expanded their use in his business. “Most of the good things that have happened over the past four years came as a result of that move,” said Mark. “It’s not only been a big benefit to our customers, it has guaranteed the supply of wood I need to operate at the level I want to.”

Wood Waste Disposal retrieves non-hazardous wood waste and primarily processes it into colored mulch for wholesale markets. The company also does a substantial business in selling by-products of the mulch production process and is increasingly involving itself in residential and commercial collection of wood waste.

The company collects wood waste in roll-off boxes it stations at customer sites throughout southwest Ontario and also receives some material that is delivered to its gate. Wood Waste Disposal serves the large automotive manufacturing industry, truss manufacturers, and other secondary wood manufacturers. Mark’s company processes only clean wood waste; it does not recycle construction debris, whole trees, brush, or other material. The reason, he explained, is that clean wood fiber makes a high quality colored mulch product.

Incoming wood is segregated by type; material from truss plants and similar businesses are stored separately from pallets, crates and boxes.

Mark is committed to recycling for the highest and best use, so he allows pallet recycling companies to visit his yard and recover material. Lumber that can be used for pallet recycling is diverted from the grinder.

The Bandit Industries Beast Recycler is a high-capacity grinder capable of reducing virtually any material likely to come into the Wood Waste Disposal yard. Mark uses a double grind process. Wood fiber first is reduced and processed with a 3-inch diamond screen. It goes through the grinder a second time and is sized with a 2-inch baffle screen to make the finished product. The double grind process is more effective at removing scrap metal and makes a more consistent quality mulch, which can sell for a premium. Many of
© Copyright 2011, IndustrialReporting, Inc.
10244 Timber Ridge Dr., Ashland, VA 23005

Other organizations which provided commentary after our submission include the Association of American Railroads, Canadian Lumber Standards Accreditation Board, Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association, Canadian Trucking Alliance, Canadian Wood Pallet & Container Association, CHEP Equipment Pooling Systems, Conrad Fafard, Food Marketing Institute, Gouvernement du Québec, Nortek and Unilever United States, among others.

The response from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency asked for implementation to be delayed until 2013 as originally proposed, and CFIA and USDA now will resolve the next step forward.

The CWPCA position required extensive discussion with members. Directors were aware that members were divided between wanting no end to the exemption and those that wanted an accelerated phase-out to allow the WPM industry to fulfill phytosanitary conditions and to disadvantage the „garage bangers‟ which compete with legitimate companies in the sector. There was discussion of the need for ISPM No.15 since pests flow across the border in a variety of means, but CWPCA administers the certification program for CFIA and adheres strongly to the objectives of forestry standards.

Since CWPCA filed its industry position, concerns have been expressed that any delay will allow the Canadian industry to “press the snooze button” and do nothing until the final deadline approaches, but the industry submission called for immediate „informed compliance‟ to ensure that all stakeholders in the export market are aware of the deadlines and the implications for non-compliance.

The proposed early termination was viewed as a non-tariff trade barrier or the use of non-fiscal measures to restrict international trade by constraining the actual shipment methods (ie: the pallet). The USDA background papers stated that the impact of the proposed ruling would be stronger on Canadian WPM manufacturers than US firms, and almost none of the delegates to the recent Western Pallet Association were aware of the issue.

CWPCA said the industry could accept the US desire to accelerate the schedule subject to a number of suggestions:

1. No export WPM should be delayed at the border if the WPM bears a valid IPPC stamp; the industry will not accept any evidence of arbitrary border delays which impede shipments when the WPM is certified.

2. There must be greater enforcement to identify WPM shipments from non-certified facilities.

3. To avoid confusion, there should be no difference in timing between wood containers and dunnage.

4. „Informed compliance‟ should start as soon as possible to ensure that all parties understand the schedule.

5. Any additional cost to treat WPM will reduce the economic competitiveness of wood relative to non-renewable pack-aging options.

6. The increased demand for certified WPM will strain existing supply facilities and efforts should be taken to address a probable constraint in production capacity.

7. A lead time until July 2012 should allow the domestic industry to deplete its inventories of non-certified WPM.

8. Clarification is needed on the expectations for documentation required for WPM under load.

9. It is assumed that Canada will terminate its existing bilateral exemption in a transparent manner that is equitable to the proposed US action.

10. Governments should consider monetary compensation or fiscal assistance to affected industry sectors to offset the economic impacts of an accelerated implementation.

CWPCA estimates that the domestic industry will be required to pay $30 million a year to heat-treat new WPM for ex-port, based on annual shipment of 26 million units to the US, of which 80% now will need to be HT‟ed at a unit cost of $1.25 for softwood and $2 for hardwood.

To HT the current inventory of 300m pallets which travel south under load, would incur a first-year cost of $300m, as-suming 50% of inventory must be treated at an average cost of $2 per recycled unit. This incremental cost in subse-quent years will decline but will remain above $200m.

CWPCA did not estimate any costs for production of US WPM for export to Canada, nor for non-HT units under load which move north. It soon may be impractical for WPM manufacturers to segregate wood for domestic and for conti-nental use, and the ensuing need to HT all WPM will impose more costs on industry and consumers.

Canadian Wood Pallet & Container Association