David Orr writes:
>But the more important issue here, in my mind, is that wood pallets are
>more brittle than plastic, and once wood breaks, it's firewood (or, in many
>areas, landfilled)! Once a plastic pallet breaks, it can be immediately on
>its way back to the plant to be recycled into a new pallet!
>I think that's a pretty compelling reason to call a halt to the use of wood
>pallets. Anyone care to rebut?
While I will not rebut, I also will not accept this argument blindly. Wood
pallets are not necessarily more brittle than plastic. It depends on the
type of wood and plastic which are being compared. While some wood pallets
are designed for single-use, many are designed for multiple-use. Once these
break, they are generally reconstructed in low-tech pallet recycling
facilities (usually with parts from other broken pallets) and are reused.
However, eventually all pallets reach the end of their days. At this point
most are burned or (worst case) trucked to landfills.
While it might be possible to recycle a broken plastic pallet, how much more
technology and energy is going to be required to do it and how many times
can a plastic pallet be recycled?
I don't know the answers to these questions. But before I'd be willing to
accept these as "compelling reasons," I'd have to know.
I have seen plastic replace wood in many applications where plastic does the
job better than wood. If that is the case in pallets, I trust that in the
not too distant future in our competitive economy, that wooden pallets will
become collectors' items. But in the meantime, I'd not be willing to call
for a halt to the use of wood pallets (nor would I put any aside in a spare
room) without some further answers.
(Does anyone have any research money?)
Ted.
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| Ted Bilek, Forestry Economics |
| University of Canterbury, School of Forestry |
| Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, NEW ZEALAND |
| |
| e-mail: e.bilek@csc.canterbury.ac.nz |
| phone: 64-3-364-2121 fax: 64-3-364-2124 |
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