Almost all companies are looking for ways to reduce their environmental impact and to become more efficient in the process. What if you could turn your harvest residuals or production scrap into your own pallets, thus eliminating the need to consume other resources needed to make pallets and have them delivered to you? This post looks at some surprising pallet materials you might not have heard about.   With continued interest in the circular economy, there is growing interest. One of the ways to bridge sustainability and efficiency for pallet usage, according to Dr. Mark White, president of White & Company, is to explore the opportunity for pallets made from various natural constituents that are recyclable and biodegradable. Increasingly, entrepreneurs and researchers are looking to agricultural crops and residuals as potential pallet stock.   To take a step back, wood pallets have long dominated pallet usage, and for good reason. They are relatively inexpensive and strong, providing a viable solution for many supply chains. Plastic pallets are highly valued in several applications (and growing at a faster rate than wood), as are niche options such as presswood, paper and metal.  Nevertheless, there always seems to be a new pallet guaranteed to raise eyebrows. Back in 2012, TerraCycle made headlines by announcing it was using recycled cigarette butts to make pallets. Another company makes pallets from recycled carpeting. Chances are, you haven’t seen any of those innovative pallets carrying merchandise in your supply chain. The quest continues, however, and agricultural fibers are garnering an increasing amount of attention.   “Fibers from banana trees and hemp, for example, are from sources that grow quickly and offer higher yields than trees,” Dr. White told Logistics Management Magazine in 2018. “…once banana trees stop producing they are otherwise useless, and hemp can be rotated every six months,” White explained. “Companies are molding these alternative fibers with or without adhesives into pallet form then testing to essentially try to improve on Mother Nature.”

 

Banana Pallets

As Dr. White noted, banana stems can be produced into pallets. Yellow Pallet is a Netherlands-based company that creates production systems designed to press or extrude banana waste into materials that can be assembled into pallets. The company recently reported that its banana fiber pallet blocks have now meet EPAL (European Pallet Association) technical standards. Given that 21 million pallets of bananas are shipped annually, there is a ready potential market for those pallets. The company is currently installing a production facility in Costa Rica. Note the video from Yellow Pallet.

 

Coco Pallets

According to CocoPallet International, a Netherlands-based producer of pallets made from coconut waste, 70 billion coconuts are produced annually, while less than 15 percent of the husk material is utilized. Present applications for husks include flooring and brushes. Around 85 percent of waste material remains, however. As such, this residual presents the opportunity for coconut-based pallets. The material is molded, using a natural binder to help form the pallets.   Founded by Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Vos, the initiative is based on technology developed by scientists at the University of Wageningen, the Netherlands. Vos recently appeared on a supply chain podcast to tell the story of Coco Pallet.  Vos was recently interviewed on the Let’s Talk Supply Chain podcast.