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Matt Hickman

IKEA ditches wooden pallets for cardboard

In an attempt to slash costs and emissions, IKEA experiments with cardboard shipping pallets. But like some IKEA products, the single-use nature of these pallets has some wondering if they're a more eco-friendly option.

Tue, Jan 03 2012 at 1:56 PM EST
 7

Cardboard shipping pallets from IKEA Photo via Core77
From the good, the bad, to the downright ugly, environmentally progressive home furnishings retailer/meatball purveyor IKEA was a common topic around these parts in 2011. And with 2012 freshly upon us, I thought it would be appropriate to share some interesting, potentially game-changing news from the PV-installing, tree-planting, reusable bag pioneer from Sweden.
 
IKEA is starting off the New Year by ditching traditional shipping pallets made from wood and replacing them with thin, lightweight pallets made from corrugated cardboard that can still support heavy loads — up to 1,650 pounds of MDF coffee tables and lingonberry jam! It’s anticipated that the switch will save the company up to $193 million in annual shipping costs, although an investment in new forklifts and a whole lot of cardboard has to be accounted for.
 
[Related: Seniors look for love at IKEA in Shanghai]
 
At a mere 5.5 pounds, the revolutionary cardboard pallets weigh 90 percent less than their wooden counterparts and will no doubt help to dramatically slash shipping-related emissions in addition to overhead. But here’s the thing: unlike traditional pallets, which can be reused over and over again before they break down and are retired/repurposed into DIY bedframes, the cardboard pallets are designed to only be used once. After their initial use, the cardboard pallets will be recycled, although I’m curious as to how IKEA, which currently uses 10 million wooden pallets to transport goods to 287 stores in 26 countries each year, will go about doing this. Will they be immediately broken down and turned into new pallets creating a closed-loop system?
 
How exactly IKEA plans to recycle the pallets is unclear, but Jeanette Skjelmose, sustainability chief at IKEA’s supply-chain unit, knows this much:  “We don’t know if the paper pallet will be the ultimate solution, but it’s better than wood.” 
 
[Related: Where not to shop for incandescent light bulbs]
 
 
Via [Core77], [Bloomberg BusinessWeek]
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anonymous
S. Lee 01/06/2012 14:44 PM

I was able to visit the IKEA Savannah Port operation with a large group of members of the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association this past year and saw first hand how successful this use of corrugated slave pallets is working contrary to the comments so far made. Many within the industry recognize this concept has great potential and IKEA is in essence "the first pickle out of the jar" in introducing this new concept. It must bekept in mind; the slave pallet only supports the load.... More

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anonymous
Beandude 01/09/2012 13:19 PM

The most educated response yet...very well put Mr. Lee

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anonymous
Robert Postuma 01/06/2012 11:19 AM

What a dumb idea. Wood pallets have a lifetime of about 10 years and are exchangeable.
Besides being cheaper they also allow reduced handling time.

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anonymous
bryanska 01/06/2012 14:33 PM

CHEP esimated the lifecycle of a white wood pallet to be 4 trips before needing to be rebuilt. Of copurse they are vested in switching pallet users to their system, but even in a pooled-pallet system like CHEP's, each pallet only lasts 30 trips before needing a rebuild. This is hardly 10 years.

The advantage to a paper pallet is zero rebuilds. All the infrastructure involved in collecting, rebuilding, and redistributing that pallet disppears. The pallet makes two trips: one to the.... More

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anonymous
bryanska 01/06/2012 09:33 AM

Actually, corrugated board (cardboard) is a very green product. Corrugated board can be recycled several dozen times before the pulp fibers beceome too short to crosslink and provide strength. The industry has been recycling boxes for nearly a hudnred years. It's mixed right in with brand new wood chips.

For a long time, deforestation was a concern but regs and costs made it profitable to grow 'farm forests'. Softwood like pine and fir grow very fast. Now, the paper industry grows more.... More

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Tarrant
Tarrant 01/04/2012 11:40 AM

Hmm--they already make those cardboard roof racks for transporting your goods home. I suspect the construction will be similar. I do wonder though about the recycle vs reuse. It seems to me that the chances of these getting wet and melting also might be high.

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anonymous
Enter your name 01/04/2012 10:52 AM

This is a disaster waiting to happen. Someone will be losing their job when this fails.

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