The Circular Economy-New Idea, Re-Modeled

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The definition of a circular economy is straightforward but transitioning to the new model remains challenging. Consumers and business leaders have grown accustomed to a wasteful, linear product lifecycle. Manufacturers fabricate goods, ship them to retail outlets, and people buy the items they believe provide the most significant value. But what happens afterward? Most people discard old or broken products without a second thought. Yet, a circular economy breaks the cycle of wastefulness, providing an alternative to the current system and a way to fight climate change.

The Circular Economy – The New Idea

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a circular economy “keeps materials, products, and services in circulation for as long as possible.” The typical product lifecycle entails fabricating new items from raw materials, sometimes natural resources, but there is little emphasis on sustainability. If there’s a choice between saving money on production or operating with sustainability, most choose the easy route.

A circular economy takes a different perspective. There is a concerted effort to eliminate waste at a fundamental, systemic level. Products manufactured in the current linear economic structure will not be returned to the manufacturer and recycled.

In a circular economic model, they would. The manufacturer can repair, reproduce, or recycle products using re-fabricated parts, creating a return-loop that promotes and operates with less waste – and lower manufacturing costs. The most vital concept is to be as efficient as possible while maintaining sustainability, including (if possible) using renewable energy.

Circular Economy-Recovered and Recycled

A circular economy isn’t a theoretical framework because real-world examples exist. The difference is that the global economy has yet to shift to a new model. Still, businesses continue to demonstrate how to accomplish the feat and push back on climate change.

Supply Chain

Many international companies in consumer facing industries, like automotive or electronics, are implementing closed loop-reverse logistics programs to capture savings in their manufacturing processes. These businesses enabled a “reverse logistics” system in coordination with partners and suppliers. These organizations gather and reassemble disused components and re-sell them via their reverse logistics supply chain. The result is greater efficiency since reassembled parts cost significantly less than new components. Those savings get passed to consumers, and all parties’ benefit. These industries have renovated hundreds of thousands of parts and components that meet similar specifications as new components.

Wood Pallets

Companies in the wood pallet industry have adopted similar systems, where new products are recycled and re-manufactured from existing pallets. Circular economics in this sector have spawned businesses that recover wood in the form of used pallets and other wood waste and re-purpose it as viable products all the way through the end and beyond of its own product lifecycle. The recycled pallets have the same functionality despite being reused in the supply chain more than once. If waste byproducts occur, those byproducts get used in other ways, such as using leftover wood for compost, or even wood pellets. This way, every ounce of recycled wood has a purpose and reduces the number of trees required to meet demand.

Why is It Important?

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle seem aimed at a personal level of responsibility to start and that is great. However, a circular economy model offers a different path forward. It allows businesses and consumers to participate in a healthy economic system that protects the environment and fights climate change. The assumption that circular economics introduces unnecessary costs is inaccurate because real-world examples prove it’s possible. The next step is the widespread deployment of circular economic principles, and that’s where the global economy stands today. There’s a clear choice between conducting business as usual or moving on to a sustainable system.

Circular Design – How Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Can Be Part of Product Design

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The principles of circular design are integral to the concept of a circular economy, a new economic model that values sustainability and efficiency. Many products don’t return to the manufacturer in today’s linear economy, nor would they arrive in a recyclable condition. Sustainability wasn’t a priority when mass consumption became the norm, and many products were never designed for systematic reuse. The economic system today follows the “make, take, discard” product lifecycle, but circular design provides an opening for a sustainable economy.

Circular Design – A Definition

Circular design entails a fundamental shift from wastefulness toward sustainability from the product’s conception to its fabrication. Everything is designed for reuse multiple times instead of designing for failure or obsolescence. It’s a change that maximizes economic efficiency since products and their components are recycled instead of thrown away. Circular design enables innovation in ways that the linear economy can’t provide and entails the following principles.

Circular Design Principles

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the four principles of circular design are:

  • Understand
  • Define
  • Make
  • Release

The result is a new product lifecycle designed for sustainability with each iteration. It incorporates the three “R’s” principles – reduce, reuse, and recycle – and supports the creation and manufacturing of products that can be reused time and again.

Understand

The first principle is to understand where the most significant opportunities are ready and available. Not every product or service lends itself to circular design because the business doesn’t operate on a sustainable model.

Understanding the current product design, its shortcomings, and its lifecycle gives business leaders a direction when adopting circular design. The idea is to construct products and processes that are regenerative and restorative instead of destructive and wasteful. Changes in the model can include a more robust connection from fabrication to services where downstream recycling is regenerative and/or restorative and maintains a viable product (read: pallets) that is reusable throughout its lifecycle.

Define

The defining principle articulates the specific business processes that can benefit from circular design. The supply chain is a perfect example. The challenges in supply chain operations may differ from company to company, yet they aren’t insurmountable.

It takes a multi-disciplinary, collaborative effort between provider and customer to identify processes and transition to a more sustainable design that includes the materials used to make the products. The definition of success must be clear and attainable because the following principle relies upon clarity. If the purpose seems elusive, the proper course is to return to narrowing down and understanding the opportunity.

Make

Here is where businesses can take action and prioritize which products and/or processes are likely to succeed according to clearly defined sustainability objectives and which ones need further development. One strategy is to test concepts with rapid prototyping and to embed feedback mechanisms to optimize the design.

An easy low-hanging fruit to pluck is re-examining the raw materials that go into a product. Is it feasible to make the item with biodegradable materials, or is it a better candidate for recycling? Can it incorporate both into production? The answers boil down to what the user needs. Many times, different versions of the same product may be necessary to test and achieve circularity since the design requires innovation and creativity. This is where research and development take place, literally and figuratively. Think of the purpose of facilities like the Virginia Tech – Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design.

Release

The last principle is launching the new design, but it doesn’t stop there. Circular design demands continuous improvement and a constant focus on efficiency. That’s why it’s best to launch and learn, releasing products to redesign and refine processes, with the ultimate goal of creating a circular product lifecycle. Creating a circular economic system demands no less than a concerted, multi-pronged approach.

Circular Design and the Wood Pallet Industry

The question is: do real-world examples of circular design exist? And the answer is yes. The wood pallet industry is a prime example of how design can enable circular economics to the company’s benefit. Wood pallets don’t require new raw materials each time. Manufacturers can produce them from sustainably sourced wood, recycled wood components, or a combination of both. Another example is a pooled pallet rental system which many large enterprises rely upon in transporting their finished goods.

Either way, the pallets, and components are designed to be used multiple times, bolstering the product lifecycle with increased sustainability. The pallet industry leverages its natural advantage in sustainable processes, and companies can legitimately validate forward-thinking sustainability goals and demonstrate genuine positive action for environmental concerns. The old wasteful business model is transformed into a circular system, and companies establish trust with their customer.

Conclusion

Efficient design processes focusing on reuse can lower material costs end to end. A circular-designed product doesn’t have a single lifecycle but rather several. The overarching concept is to battle climate change by reimagining how products reach consumers, starting at the design level. The four principles of circular design provide guidance, but it’s incumbent upon business leaders to commit to the new paradigm.

The Forests of Gabon

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Forest products play a crucial role in many countries and their available resources. In the African nation of Gabon, forest products are pointing the way forward in a country that finds itself winding down its oil production and needing to find alternate sources of investment and resources.

NP readers know that we at Nature’s Packaging support sustainably sourced wood from sustainably managed forests. Wood is a multifaceted medium that is utilized in everything from buildings (mass timber), to furniture, to the wooden pallet and crate.

The government of this small African nation understand that their forests are an opportunity to open new markets and create jobs for its citizens.

Join Nature’s Packaging as we take look how the country is working to balance its need for new revenue and to sustainably manage its abundant forest land.

The Eden of Africa

Known as the “Eden of Africa”, the nation of Gabon is rich with forestland (it covers about 90% of the country) and has one of the largest elephant herds in the world.  For decades though, it has relied on its oil production to fuel the economy. The oil producing sector has shielded the country’s economy from the larger fluctuations in Africa’s overall economic woes at various times in history.

However, as their calculated oil reserves begin to dwindle the government has turned to its forests to make the transition from oil as its main economic driver to a diversity of forest products. The challenge is to balance the need to extract these resources with the preservation of its precious forests and the climate change conditions happening around the world.

To maintain that balance, Gabonese officials have implemented strict rules regarding logging that keeps the majority trees standing and developing into old-growth timber. In fact, those strict rules limit logging to two trees per hectare every 25 years. Additionally, to combat illegal logging they have developed a program to track logs via bar code markings.

In the past, Gabon exported the majority of its raw timber product to other countries for them to finish. That has changed through government legislation that forbid selling the raw materials directly to other countries (France was a big customer). Now, the government is working to create industrial economic zones that provide tax breaks and other incentives to have businesses build factories and facilities that provide finished forest products right on their own. These include:

  • Furniture
  • Plywood products
  • Veneers from exotic tree species

To assess the interior forestland and track toward sustainable management of such a large area, Gabon officials built a satellite research station to track and create a database of the areas most degraded from industrial activity. This has led directly to a decline in illegal logging and deforestation overall. Some of the areas that were degraded previously were then re-purposed to more industrial agriculture services like palm oil.

This conservation and active sustainable management has led to a boom in the elephant population as well. In the 1990’s, the elephant population in Gabon numbered around 60,000. Now the population has grown to over 95,000. It is said that elephants are a sign of a thriving forest and certainly the elephants in Gabon are thriving.

Gabon and Forest Products

Gabon’s booming veneer business has made it the largest producer of exotic veneers in Africa. Their rich resource of exotic woods has made them a much sought after medium for crafting fine furniture and wood materials. And they are actively developing plywood manufacturing sectors through the grant of special economic zones that are located strategically close to resources and populations in need of employment.

The timber industry in Gabon is responsible for more than 30,000 jobs and this number is projected to increase as workers in the oil and gas sectors transition to forest based jobs. That 30,000 already represents about 7% of their total available workforce.

Gabon and Carbon

As the second largest reservoir of carbon sequestered through forestland (the Amazon is the largest), the burgeoning worldwide carbon credit market has created new opportunities for Gabon to utilize the natural carbon sequestration of its forest for profit in the CC market. It has sought and received carbon offset certifications from independent auditors.

Though this has not come without controversy as Gabonese officials chose to re-evaluate their credit calculation method and have since quadrupled their available carbon credits into the tens of millions of dollars. The concern is the market being flooded with these credits and thus driving down prices overall and the veracity of the credits themselves. Government officials have pointed to the initiative as a model for using new markets to fund the conservation of their forestland.

While Gabon’s story around forest products as a resource continues to play out over time. The model that they have provided to other African nations has prompted other to develop the same type of resources where available. However, the challenge becomes whether or not these other nations will adhere to principles of sustainable management of forestland and the need for economic opportunity. Time will tell.

What are the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators?

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The forest products industry is truly an ecosystem of industries that are symbiotic to each other by virtue of one common product:

Wood.

As one of our greatest resources, countries of the world have recognized that wood represents our ingenuity in building, shaping, and experimenting to build new structures and technologies.

They have also recognized the value of forests, and that managing those forest sustainably is an important part of climate change and our survival. To that end, one of the most recent tools developed to monitor forest health and conservation are the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators.

In this Nature’s packaging blog post we’ll take a look at the Montreal C and I and learn a little about their origin and what they are utilized for as tools.

The Origin of the Montreal Process

The official title is the Montreal Process Working Group on Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests, and they were derived from the Rio Forest Principles which was developed by the United Nations in 1992 as a non-legally binding document that made recommendations on sustainable forestry management and conservation.

These principles and their view of sustainable practices as being vital to forest preservation around the world were some of the first to tackle what countries were experiencing with deforestation and over-logging.

They became the catalyst for the working group that began to codify what sustainable management was, and how it would be monitored through the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators.

In 1995, these criteria and indicators were formally agreed to by these ten countries:

  • Argentina
  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Chile
  • China
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • Mexico
  • New Zealand
  • The Russian Federation
  • United States
  • Uruguay

It has been determined that these countries account for:

  • 90% of temperate and boreal forest (including tropical) of the world
  • 58% of the planted forests of the world
  • 49% of the world’s forest overall
  • 49% of the production of roundwood in the world
  • 31% of the population.

The Criteria and their Purpose

As mentioned, the criteria were designed as tools to evaluate the important components of sustainable forest management and provide a structure to quantify and qualify the value and conditions of forests worldwide.

Their core premise is to view forests as ecosystems that provide a complex framework of environmental and socio-economic benefits for people around the world. The criteria and their subsequent indicators act as guidelines for monitoring and assessing national trends in forest conditions and management.

There are seven criteria that form the basis of the process:

  • Conservation of biological diversity
  • Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems
  • Maintenance of forest ecosystem health and vitality
  • Conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources
  • Maintenance of forest contribution to global carbon cycles
  • Maintenance and enhancement of long-term multiple socioeconomic benefits to meet the needs of societies
  • Legal, institutional, and economic framework for forest conservation and sustainable management

and each of these criteria have several indicators that measure or describe the criteria, which can include quantitative and/or descriptive practices like forest planning or investment in natural resources by countries.

In the beginning there were actually seven criteria and sixty-seven indicators, but over the years, the process, criteria, and indicators get reviewed to ensure they remain relevant and/or updated to new factors in sustainable forest management. This is important as the Montreal Process and Criteria are not standards or regulations that are binding and must allow for common interpretation.

They were not created to measure whether sustainability has been achieved. They were created to provide a common framework for countries to have effective discussions about how each of the participating country can work together to accomplish the common goals of sustainable forest management.

The Value Driven, Green Supply Chain

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The whole world is more aware of the supply chain than they have ever been before. Pandemic-induced disruptions brought attention to the complexity of supply chains. Most people didn’t realize the impact of conditions in faraway places on the products they buy.

Climate change brought more attention to the sustainability and environmental impact of supply chains. The combination brought worldwide scrutiny to this historically overlooked essential underpinning of the global economy.

As we face a change in the methodology of supply chain operations and the increasing demand for more sustainable practices, businesses are looking at greening the supply chain. But what exactly does that mean?

Greening the Supply Chain

The phrase, “greening the supply chain”, often refers to practices that reduce the environmental impact of each step in a supply chain. But it can also encompass health and safety, societal impacts, and quality-of-life issues.

The degree to which sustainability programs and practices could be applied in a supply chain were originally thought to be based on the complexity of operations and where astute management could enable a more hands-on approach. However, the reality is that supply chains are a collaborative effort and no one company can lay claim to a singular approach that functions effectively.

The Green Supply Chain

A greener supply chain isn’t only about environmental impact. It’s also about saving resources and money for your business. And it’s about fortifying weak links in the chain to encourage more resilience in the face of external disruption.

Consumers are demanding greater environmental responsibility from corporations. Using sustainable practices at a company headquarters is a beginning step, but suppliers and partners have to be involved and invested in the practice as well. Some industries that work in the supply chain operations are automatically inclined to increase sustainability practices through their business model. The wooden pallet industry is a prime example of an industry that incorporates productive recycling practices that are absolutely in line with sustainability principles.

Many companies fail to realize the financial impact of waste in the supply chain. These costs tend to be hidden compared to upfront savings offered by suppliers. A closer look can reveal numerous processes where cost savings are negated. Disposing of excess packaging, paying for wasted water and energy, and costly shutdowns due to poor conditions can end up costing far more than those initial savings.

Taking the time to audit and eliminate wasteful practices at each step in the supply chain can result in lower costs. More importantly, it can also result in stronger, more resilient processes.

Companies can work directly with suppliers to reduce waste, decrease environmental impact, and improve working conditions. Each of these steps forges stronger relationships between companies and suppliers.

Those relationships allow all parts of the supply chain to work toward the common goal of business having a positive impact on the community. It doesn’t matter if that community is in the United States, Bangladesh, or France. Local impact is global impact.

Complex Supply Chains and Environmental Responsibility

As mentioned previously, a challenge for companies that want to green their supply chain is that they often do not directly control key parts of the chain. Factories and producers in developed countries generally have to abide by environmental regulations.

An effort to work with suppliers to exceed local regulations benefits their workers and their communities. Those suppliers become less fragile and prone to disruption and the supply chain grows stronger.

Those suppliers are also less likely to create environmental damage. Companies that knowingly use suppliers that are harming the environment may find themselves paying for portions of costly cleanup.

This can feel like an impossible task for many businesses. Even multi-national corporations struggle with the complexity of their supply chains. There may be hundreds of steps involved in creating a single product.

Everyone wants to be environmentally responsible, but where do you start? What are some basic green supply chain practices and what are some reasonable first steps?

Made From Trees-Forest Products Move Markets

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Every day, many of the items used in daily life were made possible by forest products industries. The type of forest products in demand the most are various types of lumber. Used to make everything from furniture to home construction to wood pallets and containers; lumber is vital to many industries.

The transportation and logistics industries use wood pallets to move nearly everything. 1.8 billion pallets are in use every day, shipping 90% of the world’s goods. 90% of those pallets are made of wood, making them some of the most important forest product-derived items in the world.

Forest Products and Processes Add Sustainability

Forest products play a major role in the supply chain. Within the subject of climate change and the impact to the environment, the supply chain is under pressure to increase sustainability and reduce carbon emissions. The forest products industry is at the forefront of harvesting and creating renewable resources and products that are reusable and recyclable.

As part of that process, modern logging practices are incorporating sustainable principles to help forests remain healthy and productive. Well-managed forests generate some of the most valuable resources for mitigating climate change and provide useful products that positively impact daily life.

Wood Packaging Logistics and the Supply Chain

Wood packaging used in the supply chain includes pallets, boxes, crates used to transport goods. Well-designed wood packaging keeps goods from being damaged during transit. When heat treated and stamp-certified according to international standards like ISPM-15, wood packaging ensures that goods move seamlessly between countries and facilitates international trade.

Wood Pallets in the Supply Chain

Wood pallets are a core component of the supply chain. Their functionality makes them easy to load and unload via forklifts and pallet jacks. Their durability helps protect items shipped and their design makes them easy to store for reuse.

Wood pallets set the standard for supply chain strength, resilience, and sustainability. 95% of wood pallets are recycled and reused multiple times throughout their lifecycle. Pallets, as a crucial link in the supply chain, are leading the way toward a circular supply chain that eliminates waste.

They are also increasingly popular with consumers for DIY projects as the public recognizes their versatility. When they do reach the end of their useful lifespan, wood pallets are often down-cycled into other useful products like mulch, wood pellet fuel or craft wood.

A current challenge for wood pallets in the supply chain is availability. A consistent supply of quality pallets has always been in demand. When the pandemic hit, so did a broad increase in products shipped via e-commerce. As shipping has rebounded from those initial lock-downs, demand for pallets has exceeded supply.

At the same time, delays in other parts of the supply chain were causing the price of lumber to increase. Industries that use pallets to ship products began to appreciate the wood pallet as a principal component of a stable supply chain.

Forest Products-Above and Beyond

A relatively new arrival in the world of sustainable forest products is mass timber. Mass timber is an engineered product made up of multiple pieces and layers of wood sandwiched together. The result is an incredibly strong and resilient building material that is used in the construction of large buildings that were once built with steel or concrete alone. Mass timber technology is being used to build in Canada and Europe, and is now beginning to launch significantly in U.S. building construction.

Wood Fuel Powering Industry

Burning wood for fuel is nothing new. But the processes used for this age-old forest product are changing. Rather than using traditional firewood for heat in homes, people are turning to pellet stoves.

The pellets used in these stoves are commonly made from compressing wood byproducts that would otherwise go to waste. Wood pellets contain very little water, making them light and easy to handle and transport. They burn hot and clean and are considered to be carbon neutral.

The same pellets can be used to produce steam and electricity.

Biomass consisting of wood and plant products is finding a place as a clean energy option. It can be burned directly or processed into gas or liquid fuels. While not as clean as solar or wind energy, it is vastly cleaner than fossil fuel use and is renewable.

Residential buildings and industries are turning to biomass and other renewable sources for their energy needs.

Forest products surround us in our everyday lives. Renewable forestry practices have created an industry that leads the way in a world rightly focused on sustainability and net zero carbon emissions.

Green Supply Chain Practices

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There are multiple ways to implement sustainability practices in a supply chain. Choosing which areas to tackle first can seem complicated. But some common practices cross industries and apply to most companies.

Materials

Choose recycled or sustainably produced materials (like wood pallets). This is one of the most basic applications of the reduce-reuse-recycle framework. Every business can choose green materials at some level.

If shipping products, then choose wood pallets. Wood pallets are less expensive and 95% are reused and recycled. Shipping is already very energy-intensive. You can help reduce its impact with your choice of materials.

Purchasing

Companies make procurement choices every day. Take the time to choose suppliers in your industry that are already using green materials and processes. Try to find suppliers that incorporate sustainable practices already.

Purchasing from an environmentally responsible established supplier strengthens their position in the market and provides an incentive for other suppliers to follow the lead.

Remember hidden costs. You may pay more with a green supplier, but do you save in responsible waste disposal and/or recycling of more materials? Audit the product lifecycle and determine where costs can be re-distributed or eliminated.

Transportation

Transportation is a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. As energy-saving options come on the market, take a closer look at your transportation suppliers. Choose those who are investing in clean-energy options. Just like all other purchasing, balance the cost of choosing greener transportation with the overall benefit to the communities you serve, your reputation, and the stability of your supply chain.

Packaging

Packaging can be one of the largest contributors to product wastefulness. Look at the entire lifespan of your packaging. How much of it ends up in the landfill, and how much of it can be reused or recycled?

Consumers are looking for less packaging. They’re also looking for innovative disposal methods. Can you use compostable packaging? Give your customers an easy choice with clear and visible instructions for environmentally friendly disposal.

First Steps-Greening the Supply Chain

No matter how big the company, the first steps in greening the supply chain is to understand that it is complex endeavor that will require time and resources to be truly effective. A green supply chain is intentional. The strategies come from the top down and involve every part of the chain. Build a plan and tackle each issue comprehensively.

Examine each step, from the acquisition of raw materials to the last mile of delivery. The key is to make incremental changes in daily operations that are part of a larger strategic plan. Identify the weakest points and work to strengthen them.

Talk to suppliers about sustainability practices. Some will have implemented strategies that lend themselves easily to the effort. A company’s vision and plan for sustainability is part of a larger strategic plan and supplier partners that can help by virtue of their own sustainability practices are essential.

A great benefit to investing in the green supply chain is that the effects can be larger than the intended scope of the initial investment. Helping a supplier/partner to improve its sustainability practices can create a stronger, more resilient supply chain overall.

That goodwill becomes a part of your company’s legacy and reflects positively on the reputation in the business community as a good partner.

The goodwill is a small, but essential, step in creating sustainable industries that become the standard.

The pandemic has exposed the fragility of supply chain problems as a worldwide issue. We are also realizing that greening supply chains makes them both more environmentally responsible and more resilient. Taking the first steps in greening the supply chain may seem daunting, but the small steps that a company takes can make a difference.

Every company that invests in sustainable practices, like using recycled wood pallets, is contributing to a greener global business environment. Those contributions will add up collectively to help lower costs and reduce waste.

Examining the company’s environmental footprint might seem troublesome, but seeing it as an opportunity to make positive, eco-friendly changes is good for business.

 

Achieving Supply Chain Sustainability with Wood Pallets

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Supply chain sustainability becomes more important with the passing of new climate change legislation. Companies from every sector are identifying challenges and presenting solutions to make their supply chains more environmentally friendly.

For every industry, taking action to mitigate climate change is fast becoming a primary concern. As one of the fundamental cogs in the economic wheel of trade and commerce, supply chain management can lead the way with long-term sustainable solutions.

A More Sustainable Supply Chain

For consumer businesses, the supply chain accounts for 80-90% of environmental impacts. This includes greenhouse gas emissions and air, land, water, and other ecological impacts.

Addressing those impacts to comply with climate action regulations and consumer demand is one of the great challenges facing business today. It won’t be easy, but creating a more sustainable supply chain is possible.

Nearly every major industry already has access to a crucial part of a sustainable supply chain: the wood pallet.

One of the supply chain’s most essential components, the wood pallet is also its most sustainable. Of the 1.8 billion pallets in use in the United States, 90% are made of wood.

The life cycle of wood pallets represents a gold standard in terms of sustainability. As the holder of an Environmental Product Declaration UL Certification, wood pallets exemplify the philosophy of reduce, reuse, recycle.

Strong, long-lasting, reusable, and recyclable, wood pallets may even produce a net positive carbon footprint. They store carbon dioxide throughout their life cycle and save it from release into the atmosphere.

Today, the wood pallet represents a sustainable choice. The challenge is to realize the same level of sustainability across entire supply chains and, in effect, operate at a net zero waste capacity. Recyclable pallets manufactured from renewable resources is a key choice.

Consumers are demanding that companies make decisions based on positive environmental impact. Everyone from suppliers to end users is making sustainability a priority.

A company needs a comprehensive plan for sustainability at every level. Now is the time to examine and improve processes, but where to start? That’s where good partners can be the necessary guide with insight and metrics.

The Challenges Ahead

Sustainability challenges begin with system complexity. Companies have historically ignored supply chain areas outside their direct control. This leads to gaps in information and bottlenecks that go unnoticed until they bubble up and require action.

Sustainability is measured by the environmental and human impact of every single step of the lifecycle of a product. A company that creates eco-friendly headquarters also needs to attend to working conditions, pollution, and transportation practices abroad.

Problems vary depending on the industry. One company may identify air and water pollution from suppliers’ operations. Another may find inadequate safety measures where raw materials are procured.

Companies need comprehensive information about each step in the lifecycle of their products. That includes energy providers as well as suppliers and sub-contractors.

Once detailed information is collected, planning can begin for remediation of negative impacts. Over 80% of businesses do not have the information they need improve the sustainability of their supply chains.

Consumer businesses balance affordability with reliability and sustainability at every level of operation. Instituting sustainable practices may seem costly, but they strengthen the supply chain and save money in the long-term.

Decreasing pollution, shoring up facilities against extreme weather, and making positive contributions to healthy communities all make the supply chain more durable and more efficient. Time and materials are saved by eliminating wasteful and harmful practices.

Managing Supplier Sustainability

The most challenging aspect of creating a more sustainable supply chain is working with suppliers and their subcontractors. 75% of companies do not work with suppliers to reduce carbon emissions.

Businesses are like all customers—they have influence. A company can search for suppliers that already have sustainability goals and practices in place. They can also mandate that their suppliers bring facilities into compliance with a set of practices they determine will increase sustainability.

An even better solution is to work directly with suppliers. Using clear and verified guidelines for sustainable practices, companies can help suppliers improve operations.

The company goes from demanding customer to trusted partner. The environmental and human impact of the improved relationship strengthens to a more sustainable supply chain.

How a company works with suppliers depends on what objectives are identified. Making sure that everyone is using wood pallets is an easy first step in helping suppliers become more sustainable.

Best Practices in Sustainability

The complexity of supply chain sustainability can make it seem unmanageable. Organizations like CDP, World Wildlife Fund, The Sustainability Consortium, and others offer guidance. They help companies find issues and set goals for decreasing environmental and societal impact.

Looking to wood pallets as a framework, we can see some best practices at work.

Supply chains should use, wherever possible, renewable resources. Invest in solar, wind, and other clean energy use to build infrastructure and decrease pollution. Buy recycled wood pallets from suppliers wherever possible.

Make landfill avoidance a priority. Reduce waste, reuse materials, and recycle what is no longer useful. Wood pallets can be reused up to 15 times, and can be recycled into furniture, structures, biofuel, animal bedding, or mulch.

Studies show that 95% of wood pallets are recycled into usable materials. Even the small amount that ends up in the landfill can be used as the biodegradable top cover.

Incremental Improvements in Sustainability

The global supply chain is still far from its sustainability goals. Even the wood pallet industry can do more.

Ensuring that your wood pallets are used as many times as possible should be goal number one. Widely available recycling initiatives reduce the number of pallets that go to the landfill. Encouraging or helping suppliers switch to wood pallets improves lower-tier sustainability.

Every step gets us a little closer to a circular supply chain. Waste reduction, energy conservation, and greater emphasis on processes that benefit both society and the environment all reduce long-term costs.

Wood pallets are an important part of a sustainable supply chain. Unlike plastic pallets, they are recyclable, sustainably produced, and biodegradable.

There are places in your supply chain where sustainability requires concerted efforts with far-flung partners. Implementing the use of wood pallets across your company and its suppliers is an uncomplicated, powerful way to make a difference.

Wood biomass

Woody Biomass: A Nature’s Packaging Study – Part 2

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***Nature’s Packaging continues this week with Woody Biomass – Part 2***

 

How Does Woody Biomass Produce Energy?

Woody biomass produces energy through several methods:

Combustion

Combustion of biomass is one of the oldest controllable energy resources. Combustion involves burning wood to produce heat.

It is a chemical reaction during which oxygen and biomass combine under high temperatures to produce water vapor, carbon dioxide, and heat.

Combustion is a widely used process to generate electricity that is an efficient, economical, and practical energy source.

Gasification

Gasification involves converting woody biomass into a fuel gas. The combustible gas can then facilitate powering engines. The process of gasification uses a low amount of oxygen and when utilized to convert solid carbonaceous materials, it can also produce hydrogen-rich gas.

Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis is a promising way of generating energy from waste. During pyrolysis, wood is heated without oxygen to produce a liquid or solid fuel.

Biomass pyrolysis involves breaking down organic matter into simpler molecular chains using heat. This process produces not only energy but also fuels and other chemicals.  The fuels created using the fast pyrolysis process have the potential to help reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions by a whopping 51% to 96%.

Heating biomass breaks it down into cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose. These components can be used to produce energy through combustion or other means.

Other Products from Woody Biomass

Woody biomass is a versatile resource that can be utilized to create many different types of products, the following are just a few:

Biochar

We have covered biochar in a previous Nature’s Packaging blog post. Biochar is a form of carbon generated from biomass sources like wood chips, plant residues, and other agricultural waste products. It is created to convert biomass carbon product into a more stable form, otherwise known as carbon sequestration.

Biochar isn’t actually a single product. Instead, biochar is many different forms of black carbon that are unique in chemical and physical composition due to the original feedstock materials, creation process, cooling methods, and overall storage conditions.

Wood Vinegar

Wood vinegar is a liquid byproduct derived from the production of charcoal. It is a liquid generated from the combustion and gas of fresh wood burning in airless conditions. When the gas is cooled, it condenses and the remaining liquid is a vinegar product. Raw wood vinegar contains more than 200 chemicals

Wood vinegar is used to improve soil quality, eliminate pests, and control plant growth. It accelerates the growth of roots, stems, tubers, leaves, flowers, and fruit, but can be very toxic to plants if too much is used in application. Wood vinegar is safe for living matter and organisms in the food chain, especially to insects that help pollinate plants.

Wood-based Polymers and Composites

Recycling wood from end of life utility in packaging, construction debris, and demolition waste then combining those materials with plastics to form wood-polymer composites (WPC) creates strong wood-based products that have very wide usage capabilities. These recycled composites have very low environmental impact in terms of global warming potential (GWP), and greenhouse potential. The versatility of wood-polymer composites allow products to be created that have pre-determined strength values that correspond to their many applications.

Chemical Source Materials

In the past, it was something of a challenge turning woody biomass into fuels or other primary products. The lignin present was difficult to extract. Now through thermodynamic breakdown and chemical science, the lignin can be extracted and is quite good as a bio-polymer additive to adhesive formulas and also can be further processed into binding agents, dispersing agents, and emulsion stabilizers. Meaning that its versatility in multi-functional chemical applications makes it an excellent application in chemical manufacturing processes.

Woody Biomass in the Future

Technological advancements in the forest product sciences are finding more functional uses for woody biomass every year. Starting as a sustainable resource and source of energy that can be replenished over time, it is an environmentally friendly catalyst that is now finding new applications in materials science.

As the need for energy sources grows, woody biomass is complementary to other natural energy sources like wind and solar and ensures energy security for manufacturing and production-based industries. Thus, commercial companies are exploring many different types of bioenergy solutions.

Developing the technology to enhance the economic viability of woody biomass ensures a sustainable future for energy production. Its renewable, carbon-neutral, and lower environmental impact is an ideal attribute for future needs.

 

Wood biomass

Woody Biomass: A Nature’s Packaging Study-Part 1

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Developed countries, such as the U.S, rely on fossil fuels for energy. In fact, a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration reveals that primary energy consumption for the year 2020 in the U.S. was equivalent to 93 quadrillion btu.

Sources of fossil fuels such as natural gas, petroleum oil, nuclear, and coal play a significant role. They’re meeting the energy demands of the U.S. and the global society. However, these forms of energy contribute to greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions.

Lowering the use of fossil fuels is vital for environmental sustainability. Fortunately, demand for renewable energy sources has been rising in recent years. This is why renewable energy resources like solar, biomass, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric are crucial to achieve sustainability goals and mitigate climate change.

Woody biomass is a sustainable source of energy. One of the main benefits of woody biomass is that it is a carbon-neutral fuel source. Using woody biomass can help offset emissions from other fossil fuels. This makes it a crucial part of a sustainable energy strategy.

What is Woody Biomass?

Woody biomass is material obtained from woody plants and has been an important source of energy for millennia. Some notable wood energy facilities are:

  • Commercial wood furnaces
  • Liquid fuel refiners
  • Wood pellet factories
  • Power plants

Woody biomass is a natural renewable energy source from organic materials that can serve as a greener energy source. It is an attractive energy option for homes and industries as it can help generate electricity, produce heat, and be used in the creation of bio-based fuels. These can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on fossil fuels.

Where does Woody Biomass come from?

Woody biomass material is derived from several sources. These include urban trees, logging slash and residues, and shrub prunings. Other materials include waste from wood industries and programmed forest thinning operations.

Woody plants are short rotation crops that are fast-growing. These include trees that re-sprout after every harvest. For instance, species such as willow shrubs are often cut back soon (after the first year) to allow multiple stems to grow.

In some cases, growing single stem trees for the first harvest produces woody biomass resources. These trees are then trimmed for more yield. Most wood species, however, re-sprout slowly with every harvest which means that overall yield may decline over time with multiple rotations.

What is Woody Biomass made from?

Woody biomass is organic. It’s made of materials from living organisms (plants and animals) that can be transformed into valuable energy. Common materials for making woody biomass are biomass feedstocks – wood, plants, and waste.

As mentioned above, woody biomass comes from trees and other woody plants such as shrubs. Timber is among the valuable forest products. Woody biomass is one of the tree products, woody debris, and residues. These materials may include:

  • Trees that are lower quality due to disease or growing conditions.
  • Cut residues from timber harvest (barks, small logs, branches, stumps, needles, and limbs).

A tree’s biomass constitutes around 25 to 45 percent of logging residues. These residues are less valuable in terms of forest product utility and they typically do not support the future growth of trees. Removal of this residue material from the forest can help stimulate growth of trees and ecosystems that improve the health of the forest.  These logging residues are collected and recycled into bio-energy products like woody biomass.

In addition to these traditional collection practices, woody biomass can include perennial grasses and agricultural residues. From industrial settings, woody biomass source materials can be derived from municipal solid waste, urban wood waste, and mill residues as well.

Woody Biomass as Renewable Resource

Woody biomass is a sustainable and renewable energy source that can be a viable alternative for fossil fuels.

Through the process of pyrolysis, which breaks down biomass into constituent chemical and organic matter components, woody biomass is utilized in the creation of bio-fuels. The resulting bio-fuels can serve in a variety of applications as a source of energy for both vehicles and facilities

Woody biomass is a renewable resource that can be sustainably managed. Proper management can promote carbon sequestration. It can also be used improve soil health and enhance wildlife habitat.

 

***Join us next week as we continue to learn more about woody biomass at Nature’s Packaging***

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