End of life pallets, frames and dunnage.
There is a growing awareness of the need to sustainably manage end-of-life (EOL) solidwoods and manufactured wood products such as LVL. Solid wood and manufactured wood beams require a similar amount of EOL management with similar costs. Placing EOL wood fibre into landfill is still available but legislation to achieve zero landfill is on the horizon.
Our intention in the immediate future is to invest in new wood processing technologies that will allow us recycle any timber, LVL or Plywood back into new wood composite beams that can be used as dunnage or in the production of new pallets. Our goal is that by 2027 we will have reduced the volume of virgin LVL purchased by at least 70% - 90%. This will be achieved by investing in the recycling technology for our product, in-house, providing greater traceability and transparency over the end of life of the products we sell.
What we are aiming towards.
Ferrier processing the EOL LVL back to a restraint related product for our customers is our target. We are currently building tools with presswood producers to prove this solution from a production, operational and restraint-engineering perspective. We are striving to provide a fully circular, traceable and transparent EOL solution for all timber and wood composite products we provide.
- This processing of EOL LVL will happen within Australia by Ferrier Industrial.
- The feedstock to this process is not limited to LVL.
- Mixing EOL solid woods of different types will be incorporated in our testing.
Planning and investing in this type of manufacturing process requires a stable supply of feedstock. Available EOL LVL volumes over time are unknown at this point but the
production processes Ferrier has been investigating are compatible with EOL LVL and EOL solid woods. Engineered Molded Pallets and related products, also known as presswood pallets, are infinitely recyclable back into new product.
Molded wood pallets, riser blocks and dunnage.
Engineered molded wood pallets and blocks are made by molding wood waste such as LVL and plywood, other wood by-products and damaged logs, into new export and domestic pallets or dunnage beams.
Recyclable and eco-friendly
Presswood pallets are made from 100% recyclable wood fibre or wood waste such as EOL LVL, solid wood pallets, saw shavings, previously unusable straw and waste fibre from the corn stem. When Presswood pallets reach their end of life then they are shredded and are returned to feedstock to produce new pallets. The binding adhesives remain with wood fibre and form part of the new pallet.
Lightweight nestable design
Engineered molded wood pallets save space at a ratio of 4.5-1, which allows customers to utilise more of their warehouse with products, rather than pallets. Presswood pallets are durable enough for reuse while weighing 60% lighter than conventional hardwood pallets. The manufacturing process bring sthe moisture content of the wood fibres down to 6%-9% stopping the possibility of moisture entering the product on the pallet.
Cost effective
With pressed wood pallets already prepared for export and domestic use, customers don’t have to worry about additional certification requirements – ISPM15. Engineered molded wood pallets are an alternative to traditional wooden pallets or expensive plastic pallets.
Safety conscious
The rounded corners of pressed wood pallets reduce the risk of employees injuring themselves on sharp corners, and the one-piece design requires no nails or staples. This protects both employees and the product being shipped.
Future demand for molded wood pallets and products.
USA and Europe have been processing EOL solid woods and waste wood for more than 5 decades. Production of pallet riser blocks alone in Germany is currently 8.1 million cbm per year.
The management of landfill currently points towards less volume being legally allowed to enter landfill. Processing EOL solid woods and engineered wood products into a ‘new life’ product becomes more economic and considerably more attractive from a sustainable standpoint. Currently standard solid wood pallets have a similar unit cost to engineered molded wood pallets.
State and local government are well into the process of creating a pathway to Energy fromWaste (EfW) with their move away from landfill. EfW has been used for many decades butmodern EfW systems Energy from waste is a sustainable waste management solution to use non-recyclable or residual wastes to recover energy from material that would otherwise be landfilled. At this point managing end-of-life LVL and solid wood into new products produces the greatest environmental return.
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