Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.
Ninety-five percent of wooden pallets in the U.S. are being recycled instead of sent to landfills as DCs and landfill facilities increasingly choose to repair, resell, or grind up the old pallets for mulch, according to a study released March 29.
Researchers at Virginia Tech conducted the two-year survey by tracking the flow of pallets into municipal and solid waste (MSW) and construction and demolition (C&D) landfill facilities. The academics collaborated with the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) and the U.S. Forest Service.
Both types of facilities have cut the number of pallets entering their landfills by 86 percent since the last measure in 1998, according to the study. This is due to factors like heightened environmental awareness, limited disposal space, and a desire to be more waste-efficient, the researchers found.
The increased recycling of pallets happens both at the industrial sites that originally receive them and at the landfills where many pallets wind up, according to study co-author Brad Gething, the NWPCA's director of science and technology integration. Workers at both types of sites stockpile the used pallets, selling those still in good shape to brokers who then repair and re-sell them. Meanwhile, the older pallets are ground up into wood chips that can be used for landscape mulch, animal bedding, or biofuel.
Between 1998 and 2016, the proportion of MSW landfill facilities performing this practice rose from 33 percent to 62 percent of facilities, and the C&D facilities increased from 27 percent to 45 percent, according to study co-author Laszlo Horvath, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech. Overall, the number of wooden pallets sent to landfills in MSW and C&D landfills dropped to 25.39 million from 178.5 million over the same period, the study found.
Another reason that recycling has increased in popularity is that brokers make it easy for warehouses and other industrial sites to participate, Horvath said in an interview. Brokers often park a trailer at a warehouse or factory, filling it with old pallets and sending a truck to pick it up about once a week, he said. They pay warehouses for the used pallets, offering prices that vary with demand. Prices range from about $1 per pallet around the Blacksburg, Va., region to $3 to $4 per pallet around Charlotte, N.C., Horvath said. The brokers then repair broken pallets and re-sell them for as much as $7 apiece, while pallets too damaged for repair are fed into a wood chipper.
One shortcoming of the pallet recycling model is that brokers typically collect used pallets only within a 100-mile radius or so, since the fuel costs required for long-distance hauls would quickly overcome their profit margin, Horvath said. Warehouses located too far from a recycler can buy their own wood chippers and sell the mulch without a middleman, but few facilities find that investment worthwhile, he said.
Another complication of pallet recycling is concern about the safety of the chemicals used to eradicate invasive insects—such as the infamous Asian long-horned beetle. However, a previous Virginia Tech study showed that those chemicals do not pose health threats in wood chips used for purposes such as landscaping mulch or animal bedding, he said. In addition, many pallet manufacturers use heat instead of chemicals, sidestepping the issue entirely, said Horvath.
The data contributes to a long-running debate between vendors of wooden pallets—which tout their low cost and recyclable materials—and vendors of plastic or metal pallets, which say the high endurance of those durable materials leads to less waste. For example, a separate Virginia Tech study released March 21 showed that a 40-by-48-inch plastic pallet sold by Orbis Corp. survived an average 200 repetitions of a material handling sequence, compared to 11 cycles for a comparable whitewood stringer pallet.
Economic activity in the logistics industry continued its expansion streak in October, growing for the 11th straight month and reaching its highest level in two years, according to the most recent Logistics Managers’ Index report (LMI), released this week.
The LMI registered 58.9, up from 58.6 in September, and continued a run of moderate growth that began late in 2023. The LMI is a monthly measure of business activity across warehousing and transportation markets. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, and a reading below 50 indicates contraction.
October’s reading showed the fastest rate of expansion in the overall index since September of 2022, when the index hit 61.4. The results show that the industry is continuing its steady recovery from the volatility and sluggish freight market conditions that plagued the sector just after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the LMI researchers.
“The big takeaway is that we’re continuing the slow, steady recovery,” said LMI researcher Zac Rogers, associate professor of supply chain management at Colorado State University. “I think, ultimately, it’s better to have the slow and steady recovery because it is more sustainable.”
All eight of the LMI’s indices grew during the month, with the Transportation Prices index showing the most growth, at nearly 6 points higher than September, reflecting increased activity across transportation markets. Transportation capacity expanded slightly during the month, remaining just above the 50-point threshold. Rogers said more capacity will enter the market if prices continue to rise, citing idle capacity across the market due to overbuilding during the pandemic years.
“Normally we don’t have this much slack in the market,” he said. “We overbuilt in 2021, so there’s more slack available to soak up this additional demand.”
The LMI is a monthly survey of logistics managers from across the country. It tracks industry growth overall and across eight areas: inventory levels and costs; warehousing capacity, utilization, and prices; and transportation capacity, utilization, and prices. The report is released monthly by researchers from Arizona State University, Colorado State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and the University of Nevada, Reno, in conjunction with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).
The port worker strike that began yesterday on Canada’s west coast could cost that country $765 million a day in lost trade, according to the ALPS Marine analysis by Russell Group, a British data and analytics company.
Specifically, the labor strike at the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, and Fraser-Surrey will hurt the commodities of furniture, metal products, meat products, aluminum, and clothing. But since the strike action is focused on stopping containers and general cargo, it will not slow operations in grain vessels or cruise ships, the firm said.
“The Canadian port strike is a microcosm of many of the issues that are impacting Western economies today; protection against automation, better work-life balance, and a cost-of-living crisis,” Russell Group Managing Director Suki Basi said in a release. “Taken together, these pressures are creating a cocktail of connected risk for countries, business, individuals and entire sectors such as marine insurance, which help to mitigate cargo exposures.”
The strike is also sending ripples through neighboring U.S. ports, which are hustling to absorb the diverted cargo, according to David Kamran, assistant vice president for Moody’s Ratings.
“The recurrence of strikes at Canadian seaports is positive for U.S. ports that may gain cargo throughput, depending on the strike duration,” Kamran said in a statement. “The current dispute at Vancouver is another example of the resistance of port unions to automation and the social risk involved with implementing these technologies. Persistent disruption in Canadian port access would strengthen the competitive position of US West Coast ports over the medium-term, as shippers seek to diversify cargo away from unreliable gateways.”
The strike is also affected rail movements, according to ocean cargo carrier Maersk. CN has stopped all international intermodal shipments bound for the west coast ports of Prince Rupert, Robbank, Centerm, Vanterm, and Fraser Surrey Docks. And CPKC has stopped acceptance of all export loads and pre-billed empties destined for Vancouver ports.
Connected with the turmoil, Maersk has suspended its import and export carrier demurrage and detention clock for most affected operations. The ultimate duration of the strike is unknown, but the situation is “rapidly evolving” as talks continue between the Longshore Workers Union (ILWU 514) and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA), Maersk said.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Mode Global said it will now assume Jillamy's comprehensive logistics and freight management solutions, while Jillamy's warehousing, packaging and fulfillment services remain unchanged. Under the agreement, Mode Global will gain more than 200 employees and add facilities in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Illinois, South Carolina, Maryland, and Ontario to its existing national footprint.
Chalfont, Pennsylvania-based Jillamy calls itself a 3PL provider with expertise in international freight, intermodal, less than truckload (LTL), consolidation, over the road truckload, partials, expedited, and air freight.
"We are excited to welcome the Jillamy freight team into the Mode Global family," Lance Malesh, Mode’s president and CEO, said in a release. "This acquisition represents a significant step forward in our growth strategy and aligns perfectly with Mode's strategic vision to expand our footprint, ensuring we remain at the forefront of the logistics industry. Joining forces with Jillamy enhances our service portfolio and provides our clients with more comprehensive and efficient logistics solutions."
In addition to its flagship Clorox bleach product, Oakland, California-based Clorox manages a diverse catalog of brands including Hidden Valley Ranch, Glad, Pine-Sol, Burt’s Bees, Kingsford, Scoop Away, Fresh Step, 409, Brita, Liquid Plumr, and Tilex.
British carbon emissions reduction platform provider M2030 is designed to help suppliers measure, manage and reduce carbon emissions. The new partnership aims to advance decarbonization throughout Clorox's value chain through the collection of emissions data, jointly identified and defined actions for reduction and continuous upskilling.
The program, which will record key figures on energy, will be gradually rolled out to several suppliers of the company's strategic raw materials and packaging, which collectively represents more than half of Clorox's scope 3 emissions.
M2030 enables suppliers to regularly track and share their progress with other customers using the M2030 platform. Suppliers will also be able to export relevant compatible data for submission to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a global disclosure system to manage environmental data.
"As part of Clorox's efforts to foster a cleaner world, we have a responsibility to ensure our suppliers are equipped with the capabilities necessary for forging their own sustainability journeys," said Niki King, Chief Sustainability Officer at The Clorox Company. "Climate action is a complex endeavor that requires companies to engage all parts of their supply chain in order to meaningfully reduce their environmental impact."
Supply chain risk analytics company Everstream Analytics has launched a product that can quantify the impact of leading climate indicators and project how identified risk will impact customer supply chains.
Expanding upon the weather and climate intelligence Everstream already provides, the new “Climate Risk Scores” tool enables clients to apply eight climate indicator risk projection scores to their facilities and supplier locations to forecast future climate risk and support business continuity.
The tool leverages data from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to project scores to varying locations using those eight category indicators: tropical cyclone, river flood, sea level rise, heat, fire weather, cold, drought and precipitation.
The Climate Risk Scores capability provides indicator risk projections for key natural disaster and weather risks into 2040, 2050 and 2100, offering several forecast scenarios at each juncture. The proactive planning tool can apply these insights to an organization’s systems via APIs, to directly incorporate climate projections and risk severity levels into your action systems for smarter decisions. Climate Risk scores offer insights into how these new operations may be affected, allowing organizations to make informed decisions and mitigate risks proactively.
“As temperatures and extreme weather events around the world continue to rise, businesses can no longer ignore the impact of climate change on their operations and suppliers,” Jon Davis, Chief Meteorologist at Everstream Analytics, said in a release. “We’ve consulted with the world’s largest brands on the top risk indicators impacting their operations, and we’re thrilled to bring this industry-first capability into Explore to automate access for all our clients. With pathways ranging from low to high impact, this capability further enables organizations to grasp the full spectrum of potential outcomes in real-time, make informed decisions and proactively mitigate risks.”