Comparisons of environmental impacts between wood and plastic transport pallets

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60461373%3A22320%2F19%3A43917783" target="_blank" >RIV/60461373:22320/19:43917783 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896971932532X" target="_blank" >https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896971932532X</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.472" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.472</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Comparisons of environmental impacts between wood and plastic transport pallets

Original language description

The use of transport pallets for the distribution of a wide range of products is now a common phenomenon. This study focuses on a life cycle assessment (LCA) based comparison of the potential environmental impacts of transport pallets, made from wood both as well as made from primary or recycled plastic. As a functional unit, both the weight and volume of the transported cargo as well as the transport distance for which the pallet is to be used were selected. The ReCiPe 2016 characterization method for the expression of environmental impacts were applied. Wood pallets were found to be more environmentally friendly than primary plastic pallets. If secondary plastic is used for pallet production, their environmental impacts are lower in several impact categories than are wood pallets without energy recovery during their end-of-life. If a wood pallet is disposed in a landfill, its environmental benefits are substantially lower; however, it is still more environmentally friendly than a primary plastic pallet. An important factor in assessing the environmental impact of a pallet life cycle is its weight. Pine wood used as an alternative to spruce for pallet production was found to have fewer environmental impacts. The weight of the pallet increases the overall weight of the transported cargo, which in turn is reflected in the overall environmental impact of the shipment. The following groups of processes, which have been identified as having significant adverse effects on the environment, are significantly involved in the environmental impacts of wood pallets: disposal, transport to processing, the length and shape formation of logs, sawdust collection and chipping, as well as the internal transfer of wood logs and wood with bark production. For plastic pallets, the processes most involved in environmental impacts were: melting and molding of the plastic, primary plastic production, transport to processing, and cooling of the plastic.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10511 - Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7)

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2019

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Science of the Total Environment

ISSN

0048-9697

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

686

Issue of the periodical within the volume

10

Country of publishing house

BE - BELGIUM

Number of pages

15

Pages from-to

514-528

UT code for WoS article

000479029700047

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85066944485