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Why Wood Pallets are the Best Choice for Supply Chain Sustainability

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Wood pallets are the modern equivalent of the Swiss army knife in supply chain operations. Pallets function as protection, transportation, and storage unit for countless numbers of items that ship all over the world, every day. Their versatility in design and ease of construction is unmatched by any other piece of material handling equipment in the daily operations of logistics and shipping.

Beyond their functional ability, wood pallets are seen as a best choice for companies when they want to achieve sustainability measures in their supply chains. Wood pallets have a number of key factors that make them the best choice in this regard.

In this Nature’s Packaging series over the next few weeks, we’ll dive deeper and take a focused look at what makes the wood pallet such a great choice when it comes to sustainability goals.

Below are the 5 key factors that will be discussed in the upcoming blog posts here in NP. Feel free to incorporate these into your messaging and help your customers understand why wood pallets are the best choice to help them achieve their supply chain sustainability goals.

  1. Renewable resource: Wood is a renewable resource, meaning it can be replanted and regrown, making it a sustainable choice for packaging and shipping materials.
  2. Recyclable and biodegradable: Wood pallets can be recycled or broken down naturally, unlike plastic or metal alternatives. This reduces the environmental impact of the pallets at the end of their useful life.
  3. Durable and reusable: Wood pallets are durable and can be used multiple times, reducing the need for constant replacement, and minimizing waste.
  4. Cost-effective: Wood pallets are often less expensive than other materials, making them a cost-effective choice for businesses looking to reduce their environmental impact.
  5. Widely available: Wood pallets are widely available, making them easy to source and implement in supply chain operations.

Wood pallets offer a sustainable, cost-effective, and widely available solution for businesses looking to reduce their environmental impact and achieve their supply chain sustainability goals. Join us next week for a look at wood as a renewable resource. See you there.

Sustainable Forest Management and Wood Pallets

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The wooden pallet and container industry has embraced sustainability as both a core practice within the operating processes of the industry, and as a key value add to our customers in helping them achieve their own sustainability goals in their supply chain.

As more and more companies in this industry utilize data to provide insight and tell a story about their commitment to sustainable practices; the knowledge, data, and practices have a trickle-down effect from the largest companies in the industry to the small mom and pop pallet yards that are the backbone of the industry.

As a whole, we realize that the benefits of sustainability go beyond merely integrating into our customer’s goals, data, and marketing. There is real potential to be a leading light in the reduction of emissions and the science of carbon sequestration.

These topics can have real financial consequences for our bottom lines that will have a profound effect on our industry. And rest assured, if it becomes clear that our business processes are fully in line with the economic benefits of carbon capture and carbon credits, then our industry will be transformed by investments from some very large companies.

The industry is now witnessing the effects of attention from investment groups that realized how critical the pallet industry is to the supply chain and have begun consolidating assets to gain an edge.

But let’s take a step away from industry affairs for a moment and focus on another aspect of sustainability and how it can affect our industry. Most of the time, we are focused on the “downstream” effect of our sustainable practices and the value added by them. In this particular Nature’s Packaging post, we want to look “upstream” at sustainable practices in a critical area of the forest and forest products realm that adds value to our industry.

Sustainable forest management has been covered by Nature’s Packaging in previous posts, so we won’t delve into it as it benefits a forest itself. In this NP post, we want to summarize how sustainable forest management benefits the wood pallet industry in particular.

As we move forward globally with initiatives designed to save and manage forest from a more ecological and holistic perspective, the ability to source raw materials will change. With that change will come a change in our core products, the wood pallet and container, as well. As an industry, we must be ready for changes in policy and regulation that will inevitably be a part of that process.

The benefits of sustainable forest management must be weighed against the ability for our industry to do business in a meaningful way and remain profitable.

To that end, let’s review some of the ways sustainable forest management benefits the wood pallet industry:

  1. Ensures a steady supply of wood:  Sustainable forest management practices aim to maintain or increase the health and productivity of forest ecosystems over the long term. This helps to ensure that there is a continuous supply of wood available for the wood pallet industry.
  2. Reduces costs:  Sustainably managed forests are typically more efficient and cost-effective to log than forests that are not managed sustainably. For example, selective logging practices, which involve removing only certain trees from a forest rather than clear-cutting the entire area, can help to reduce costs and minimize waste.
  3. Enhances the reputation of the industry:  Sustainably managed forests are generally seen as more environmentally friendly, and the wood pallet industry can benefit from this positive reputation. Using sustainably sourced wood can help to attract customers who are concerned about the environmental impact of their purchasing decisions.
  4. Protects against future risks:  Climate change and other environmental pressures pose significant risks to the wood pallet industry. Sustainably managed forests are more resilient to these risks, as they are better able to adapt to changing conditions and continue to provide a reliable source of wood.

These are succinct points that offer a broad perspective to you as a reader. Essentially, they address supply, costs, marketing, and the environment as it relates to the pallet industry. It is your challenge to contemplate the implications of each of these points and decide where (and when) your company, and the industry, need to focus.

Sustainable forest management offers a range of benefits for the wood pallet industry, how will you add those benefits and create value for your business and the industry?

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.

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.

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.

Sustainable Logging Practices

Sustainable Logging Practices

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For some people, the words “sustainable” and “logging” simply do not go together. Historical logging practices were sometimes hard on forests and disrupted native ecosystems. Today, sustainable forestry practices that include logging and harvesting trees comfortably co-exists with the conservation of thriving forests.

Sustainable Logging:  The Beginning

Historical logging practices began with the axe, manual saw, and manpower. They were transformed by the introduction of powered machines. At first, as volumes of timber increased exponentially with these new capabilities, the harvesting practices remained tied to traditional practices for some time. The practice disrupted wildlife, native plant species, and the enjoyment of wild areas.

While clearcutting is still practiced today, it is more controlled and meant to optimize renewal growth.

As environmental and climate awareness began to rise, bitter confrontations with the logging industry became far too common.

In 1972, the U.S. embarked on a new path. With the passage of the Clean Water Act, environmental policies were written into law across the nation. Local, state, and federal regulations emphasized healthy forests and responsible management.

But logging couldn’t simply stop. The industry supplied, and continues to supply, much-needed timber and other forest products to consumers around the world. The harvesting of forest products provided the economic foundation for communities across the country.

Reconciling those competing needs resulted in the birth of sustainable logging practices. Old-style clear-cutting both destroyed forests and ended the economic viability of the land. Sustainable practices allow both to flourish.

Sustainable logging practices benefit everyone, from the employees of logging companies to the campers enjoying a weekend in the woods.

Sustainable forestry even has the potential to help mitigate climate change.

Sustainable Logging Overview

The main principle of sustainable logging is to balance the economic importance of forest products with the ecological importance of healthy forests. This requires a comprehensive strategy for every potential logging site.

One way to approach sustainability is to design harvesting to mirror the effects of nature. Forests are altered by wind, fire, flood, and other natural events. Trees die and are replaced in forests with no human intervention.

Sustainable forestry also depends on choosing harvesting sites wisely. Old growth forests that are not normally harvested commercially should be left alone, preserving ecosystems and habitats that have flourished in place.

For land with a history of logging, sustainable logging begins with foresters learning as much as possible about the natural patterns and existing conditions of each tract of trees.

Sustainable Logging Practices

No two tracts of land will be logged in exactly the same manner. Sustainable logging brings together a team of experts who compile a comprehensive analysis of the area. Biologists, geologists, ecologists, and more lend their expertise to each project.

Each project has its own profile. But similar sustainable logging practices are adapted for sites across the country and, increasingly, around the world.

Patchwork Logging

While a company used to clear-cut an entire forest, sustainable logging is far more targeted and precise.

Harvesting trees from a small area allows the surrounding forest to adapt to the clearing like it would to a natural event. Keeping harvested areas far enough apart maintains habitat and biodiversity.

Tree type and growth, soil conditions, and other factors determine how many trees can be harvested from an individual area. In places where fire or damaging storms are common, the overall environment may be able to regenerate a larger area.

Patchwork logging leaves trees within a harvested area to better mimic natural conditions. It also allows for the preservation of tree species that are endangered or play an oversized role in ecosystem balance.

Sustainable logging is done in cycles. Some models propose that a cycle be no shorter than 80 years. This allows the forest to recover and continuously produce harvestable trees.

Areas that have been harvested are planted with saplings. The emergence of wild grasses attracts wildlife to the clearing, and the ecosystem evolves and grows.

Selective Harvesting

Selective harvesting removes individual trees, thinning the forest to allow existing smaller trees more space and light to grow. This type of sustainable logging is especially beneficial in tropical areas that don’t have natural events that mimic areas of clear-cutting.

Selective harvesting preserves undergrowth. This helps prevent soil erosion and maintain the health of the larger ecosystem.

Both patchwork and selective sustainable logging use fewer and smaller roads and less equipment, reducing damage to the surrounding forest. Careful attention is paid to the protection of unharvested trees.

Other Benefits of Sustainable Logging

Sustainable logging offers additional environmental benefits. Harvested trees and areas are kept well away from waterways to minimize erosion and runoff. Sufficient space is left between harvested areas to provide an uninterrupted habitat for wildlife.

Sustainable logging also provides a safer working environment. Fewer people and less equipment in each area help reduce the chance of accidents.

Sustainable Logging:  Forest Management and Climate Change

Sustainable logging can play a major role in forest management. An unlogged forest is not necessarily a healthy forest. The work that goes into profiling a forest or tract of trees before harvesting provides valuable information.

That information includes soil, geography, and tree health analysis. Invasive species are documented, as are biodiversity, wildlife habitat and density, erosion, and any disease or damage present in the area.

Logging is sometimes the first step in returning a forest to good health. Removing diseased, damaged, or low-quality trees helps the higher quality trees grow. This is called an improvement harvest.

The branches and other wood left behind by this careful removal provides wildlife habitat while it decays and enriches the soil. Removing invasive trees, vines, and other plants provides better conditions for the remaining trees.

Sustainable logging practices are used and adapted by forest managers to improve the overall health of their woodlands, even if no trees are harvested for lumber.

Sustainable forestry is also becoming the focus of climate action. Sustainable logging can result in more trees as well as healthier trees able to capture more carbon.

Tropical forests are an area of particular interest for climate action. 1.5 million square miles of tropical forest are currently being selectively logged. Widespread adoption of selective harvesting practices would allow these forests to maintain much of their carbon stores and biodiversity while continuing to anchor economies.

Sustainable logging practices combine common sense, careful study, and new technologies to improve the health of forests around the world. At the same time, they provide economic stability for many communities and meet the continuing demand for lumber and other forest-based products.

 

What is Earth Day?

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Friday, April 22, 2022, marks this year’s Earth Day, an annual day of action to tackle the ongoing climate crisis, promote sustainability, and demonstrate support for those working to protect the planet. Inaugurated in 1970, the event continues to grow in line with the scale of the ongoing ecological threat, with events taking place in over 190 countries.

Origin of Earth Day

Earth Day started in 1969 as an initiative to raise awareness of the deteriorating health of the environment on US college campuses. In response to concerns surrounding air and water quality in the country, Wisconsin’s Senator Gaylord Nelson announced to the national media that he would be organizing teach-ins on college campuses, recruiting young activist Denis Hayes to lead the sessions.

Following a series of successful events, Hayes built a team of 85 people to promote public teach-ins across the US. Soon, a wide array of organizations and faith groups became involved. In 1970, the first nationwide Earth Day took place, with millions of Americans taking to the streets to demonstrate against the harmful effects of industrial development.

Following a successful day of action, Congress created the US Environmental Protection Agency and passed several laws designed to mitigate ecological damage, including the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Clean Air Act.

Earth Day Milestones

Earth Day has grown in size and strength since its successful launch in 1970. In 1990, Earth Day spread throughout the world, mobilizing millions of people and emphasizing the urgency of environmental action. It also lay the foundations for the UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

By the time the millennium came around, Earth Day had spread to 184 countries and inspired hundreds of thousands of people to gather in Washington, DC, to express the need for decisive action on global warming.

Earth Day 2022

Today, Earth Day represents a global movement. Thanks to the widespread availability of the internet, billions of people engage with Earth Day every year. This year’s theme is “Invest in our Planet”, a slogan designed to encourage individuals, corporations, and world leaders to put money towards greener technologies and environmental projects that promote bio-diversity across the globe.

What’s New on Earth Day?

Businesses and individuals are making pledges to “Invest in our Planet” by switching to greener ways of working and reducing their carbon footprints. The Earth Day 2022 website includes an action toolkit to help people get involved with the event and make a difference in their local communities, as well as tips for investing in the planet.

As the movement’s website states, “For us, every day is Earth Day”, so actions and events will continue throughout the year to ensure environmental action does not lose its vital momentum.

A Few Reasons To Love Recycled and Reclaimed Wood

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Whether you are someone who works on wooden DIY projects in your free time or earns a living making finding new ways to work with this wonderful renewable resource, finding a good source of raw material is essential. With that in mind, the following Nature’s Packaging post is a short list of reasons you should love recycled and salvaged wood.

Here’s Looking at You, Wood!

One of the primary benefits of using recycled, salvaged wood is that it offers a unique look aesthetically. Reclaimed wood is one of the few materials where versatility in re-use can lead to beautiful creations.

Recycled Wood Artwork

In particular, recycled wood tends to have a one-of-a-kind appearance that can’t be recreated.

Reclaimed Wood Artwork showing figure in wood pattern.

These aesthetically unique characteristics add to the attraction and can contribute significantly to wood-based art becoming sought after pieces of design and creativity. Artists often work with the various defects in the wood figure and discover novel ways to incorporate them into a new pattern and perspective.

Sustainable and Green Friendly

Recycled and salvaged wood is green-friendly. Wood is one of the most renewable and recyclable resources on the planet. The practice of silviculture is the ability to grow and manage trees for use in everything from building materials, to woodworking, to industrial uses (like pallet building).

During their development, trees continually provide oxygen in the environment, and absorb and retain carbon dioxide. Moreover, unlike some plastics or other synthetics, wood does not produce out-gassing of harmful vapors during its deterioration.

When using salvaged or recycled wood, this is an even more green-friendly option. Re-purposing salvaged wood prevents it from being unnecessarily wasted or discarded into a landfill. It also helps decrease the energy consumption that occurs when producing new materials. And recycled wood continues to sequester carbon for many years during its complete lifecycle.

Structural Stability of Reclaimed Wood

Reclaimed and salvaged timber can offer a high level of structural stability. Since most of the timber has been exposed to various elements for decades at a time, the weathered wood can actually be stronger. If the wood has been salvaged from older structures, it often comes from old-growth timber. Old growth timber is more dense, stronger with a tighter grain and hardness, burns slower, and is more insect resistant.

Old growth timber compared to new growth timber by tree ring count

Old growth vs new growth timber

Wooden Pallet Recycling

Recycled wood is a key component in the sustainability of the modern supply chain. The pallet industry can proudly boast of a 95% recycle rate for wooden pallets and containers. Their full lifecycle begins with new pallets being built from the less desirable sections of raw timber (industrial lumber), thus utilizing more sections of a tree rather than wasting it. Their repeated use and repair greatly extends their utility lifecycle phase within the supply chain. And their end phase is re-purposed into end products like wood pellets for fuel, ground mulch, animal bedding and many other products. Or the pallet components can end up as a wonderful piece of art or even furniture.

patio furniture made from recycled wood pallets

Vital to the wood life cycle and a key element in sustainable practices (industrial, commercial, and personal), recycled and repurposed wood not only offers you a unique multi-purpose utility, it also contributes to a more sustainable environment. Wood makes the world a more beautiful place and truly moves the world as well.

Today I Learned

The 7 Essential Criteria of Sustainable Forest Management-Part 1

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The Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators were created in 1992 during the Earth Summit. They addressed the sustainable management of forests to conserve the overall range of critical functions and characteristics like carbon cycles, forest health, water and soil protection, biodiversity, and forest productivity.

In February 1995, the member countries, including the United States, Australia, Argentina, Canada, China, Japan, and others, adopted these set of criteria for use by the working groups assigned to gauge their practicality and value.

The criteria dubbed-“The Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management”, were developed to focus on the challenge of assessing tangible progress towards forest conditions and sustainability.

The indicators are measurable components relating to a part of (or) the entire natural system, which can give insights into the condition of the forest ecosystem.

In today’s Nature’s Packaging post, we describe these essential criteria and explain their importance in sustainable forest management.

Criterion 1: Conservation of Biological Diversity

Biological diversity refers to the variety of life supported by Earth. It comprises distinct levels, including ecosystems, genes, species, and various creatures. The interactions of these levels make the earth habitable. However, in the wake of the climate change threats, the entire concept of biodiversity is under threat, which is why the first criterion focuses on the conservation of biological diversity.

Both harvest prepared and natural forests play a significant part in biodiversity. They are part of ecosystems where different life forms interact with the environment and allow the system to respond to changes, recover from disturbances, and ensure the sustainability of ecological processes.

Human activities tend to adversely affect biodiversity by altering habitats, extinction of species, reducing indigenous populations, and introducing invasive species. Conserving biological diversity allows the forest ecosystems to function properly and provide broader environmental and economic value (forest products).

In this criterion, there are a total of nine indicators. The first three are concerned with the diversity of the ecosystem, describing the type, amount, and organization of forests which provide insights into the ability of forests to support organisms and ecological processes. The other six indicators are concerned with the number and biological diversity of plants and animals supported in these habitats, focusing on the species and genes.

Criterion 2: Maintenance of Productive Capacity of Forest Ecosystems

Populations worldwide rely on forests directly for a multitude of forest-based products. The sustainability of these products is directly linked to the forests’ productive capacity, and if the requirements exceed the limit of that capacity, the ecosystem is depleted or damaged.

Thus, populations must ensure the sustainability of forests by determining acceptable levels of extraction of all the forest-based products that will not collapse the ecosystem. This must also account for the type of forest-based products in demand and how that demand changes due to social, technological, and economic trends advancements. Variations in a forests’ productive capacity can be a signal to modify those trends or other factors affecting the ecosystems.

The second criterion thus focuses on maintaining the productive capacities of forests. It has five indicators, where the first four indicators track conventional measures relating to the trends and status of the forests that support wood supplies. The last indicator focuses on the trends of non-wood products extracted from these forests.

Criterion 3: Maintenance of Ecosystem Health and Vitality

The expansion of a forests health and vitality is dependent on the functioning of the ecosystem’s processes and components. Any natural ecosystem, to maintain its functions and active processes, must have the ability to recover from external disturbances. While most disturbances and stress are natural, some extreme occurrences overwhelm the ecosystem, undermining its ability to function effectively.

As a result, there can be severe ecological and economic consequences, including environmental degradation and elimination of forests benefits to the society. Forest ecosystem health and vitality maintenance efforts can help minimize and mitigate these risks.

The criterion for maintenance of ecosystem health and vitality has three indicators. The indicators focus on the area and percentage of forests affected by circumstances beyond historic variations, lands affected by specific levels of air pollutants, and lands with significantly reduced biological components due to changes in critical ecological processes.

Criterion 4: Conservation and Maintenance of Soil and Water Resources

Soil and water are the core components of a functioning and productive forest ecosystem. These forest components are essential in the regulation of groundwater. Further, the health of underground water systems is directly impacted by topography, soil, and water interactions. The interdependence of soil and water and forest ecosystems makes their conservation an essential aspect of forest management.

The interactions involved can significantly affect habitats and poor management can result in the loss of riparian buffering capability, degradation of aquatic habitats, and soil compaction. Water flow changes can result in flooding risks which threaten the lives of humans and other organisms.

It is the fourth criterion and has five indicators. The first four indicators focus on soil and water resources protection and management practices. In contrast, the last indicator is the size of water bodies with the noteworthy changes in physical, chemical, and biological properties.

 

Join Nature’s Packaging next week as we finish up with the remaining criteria in our next blog post, “The 7 Essential Criteria for Sustainable Forest Management – Part 2”

Today I Learned: Healthy Sustainable Forestry – Part 2

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The 10 Principles for FSC-certified Forests

The Forest Stewardship Council sets clear standards for responsible forestry to achieve their mission. They set out a list of ten principles that need to be in place in an FSC-certified forest. These apply to all forests, regardless of the country, forest size, type, or whether it’s a natural forest or a plantation.

These ten principles are:

  1. Compliance with relevant laws and regulations. This includes all relevant international treaties or conventions.
  2. Commitment to workers’ rights and adequate employment conditions. This commitment is in line with the FSC’s focus on social policies, as well as the purely environmental ones. The goal must be to maintain or improve the economic and social well-being of the forest workers.
  3. Indigenous peoples’ rights. They promote and protect indigenous peoples’ legal and traditional property ownership rights, usage, and management. This protection covers the land, the overall territories, and the resources affected by the forestry management activities.
  4. Community relations. They must contribute to ensuring that the social and economic well-being of the local communities is maintained or improved.
  5. Managing the benefits obtained from the forest. Good management of forest products is essential to ensure long-term financial sustainability. As a result, the forests will be able to continue providing social and ecological benefits.
  6. Upholding environmental values and minimizing impact. The goal has to be to avoid adverse environmental effects as much as possible or repair them as needed. This includes protecting biodiversity, water resources, landscapes, soil quality, and the overall forest ecosystem.
  7. Planning the management of the forest.The forest’s management plan has to be updated regularly, based on the continuous monitoring carried out, to make sure that it’s adapted to any changes in conditions. The plan has to outline the long-term objectives and how to achieve them.
  8. Ongoing monitoring and assessment of the management activities. Continuous monitoring is carried out to measure the progress against the management plan and track the forest’s condition. Based on this monitoring, the program can be updated as needed.
  9. Maintaining forests with high conservation value. Any activities in forests with a high conservation value need to ensure the protection and enhancement of that value.
  10. Compliance when implementing management activities. These activities must comply with these ten principles and the subsequent 70 criteria established by the FSC that apply to their certified forests.

When forests comply with these principles and are FSC-certified, products made from their wood can carry the FSC logo.

What different types of certification does the FSC offer?

Different types of FSC certifications are available for businesses, as well as the better-known forest-management certification.

Being certified by the council means that the company’s products or projects have been assessed and determined to meet the FSC’s criteria for sustainable forestry, including social and environmental concerns.

These are the main types of certifications available:

Forest management.

For a forest to be FSC certified, it must comply with the ten principles stated above and the more detailed criteria that explain how to implement each one.

An FSC-certified forest balances long-term economic viability with the preservation of ecological biodiversity and the welfare of the local communities.

Chain of custody.

This certification ensures that FSC-certified wood is identified through the supply chain, from the forest to the final manufacturer and end consumer.

This way, we can be sure if a final product in the market comes from certified wood and feel confident that it won’t have been mixed up with non-certified wood.

Construction projects.

FSC-certified wood is not only destined for use in consumer products. It can also be used as materials in construction projects.

Through certification, construction companies can build their corporate sustainability goals directly into their project design and use the FSC trademarks to promote them.

How does the FSC work with different sectors?

They work together with organizations from different industries that have a common goal of sustainable forestry practices in the supply chain. This collaboration helps to raise awareness about responsible forestry initiatives within these industries and brings them closer to meeting social responsibility objectives.

They have developed a set of assets for five key sectors, and this is how they work with each one to support their sustainability goals.

Textiles

Fast fashion is getting a bad rap these days as a significant contributor to climate change, as well as polluting land and waterways due to the use of many plastic-based materials. But as sustainability moves higher on the agenda of all industries, a new generation of plant-based textiles coming from forests, including modal, lyocell, viscose, and rayon, are being used by more and more manufacturers.

These textiles are generally made from cellulose fibers found in plant cell walls, but they often come from poorly managed forests and contribute to deforestation. Other natural alternatives like cotton have a very resource-intensive, and synthetic materials that tend to be cheaper are plastics that have a significant environmental cost.

However, by encouraging textile manufacturers to use FSC-certified forest-based materials that have been sustainably produced we can reduce the impact that the raw materials used in the fashion industry have on the environment. FSC certification guarantees that the textiles used in clothing came from environmentally responsible and legal sources, giving consumers peace of mind.

Furniture

Furniture manufacturers use many forest materials throughout the production process, including plywood, chipboard, and solid wood. They are very interested in FSC-certified wood because it satisfies environmental standards and is very attractive to consumers.

Even with plastic taking over in so many areas of our lives, wood is still hugely popular when it comes to furniture. But consumers still want to know that their interior design won’t be contributing to deforestation, so they look for the FSC logo.  

Construction

There has always been a high demand for wood as a material among homeowners, especially as it’s energy-efficient as well as beautiful. But wood sourced from poorly managed forests can contribute to deforestation and environmental degradation.

Using responsibly sourced wood products from well-managed forests can help reduce emissions coming from the construction sector.

Plus, integrating responsible forestry standards and being able to use the FSC trademark on a construction project shows support for environmental goals and can be an added asset when promoting it.

Packaging

This has traditionally been a significant source of waste and overuse of plastic, but consumers are starting to pay more attention to what packaging their products come in. Companies are catching on and finding ways to both reduce excess packaging and use more sustainable materials.

By having the FSC logo on the packaging, the brands show their commitment to building more sustainable practices. And it might be the deciding factor that sways a consumer towards one brand or another.

Retail

Retailers have direct contact with the end consumers, so they can significantly influence their choices. Following consumer demands, many retailers are developing their own sustainability strategies and partner with manufacturers who also carry the FSC label.

This gives a powerful message to shoppers and helps shape their shopping habits and preferences.

 

Sustainability initiatives are no longer merely a nice thought. With so much customer focus on them, they are becoming an essential part of the social responsibility strategy for any company that wants to grow in the long term.

And with 50% of consumers worldwide recognizing the FSC label and trusting in the environmental work behind it, according to a Globescan survey, the FSC certifications have become a very powerful tool that businesses can leverage when working towards their sustainability goals.

 


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