The USDA life-cycle assessment of US wooden pallets
The USDA Forest Products Laboratory's 2020 cradle-to-grave LCA (FPL-RP-707) found wooden pallets averaged about 10.4 kg CO2e per 100,000 lb of product delivered. Manufacturing contributed about 35% and raw material supply about 34% of product-stage greenhouse gases, and burning end-of-life wood for energy showed further benefits.
Scope
The study covered sourcing raw material, manufacturing, transport, use, repair and reuse, and final disposal, using the A–D module structure of building-product LCAs. Benefits beyond the system boundary, such as using waste wood as fuel, were reported separately as module D (Treesearch).
The four designs
| 48×40 in. design | Predicted service life (trips) | Average weight (lb) |
|---|---|---|
| Stringer, light duty | 10 | 31 |
| Stringer, heavy duty | 38 | 41 |
| Block, light duty | 16 | 44 |
| Block, heavy duty | 66 | 67 |
Findings
- Average cradle-to-grave global warming impact: about 10.4 kg CO2e per functional unit of 100,000 lb of product delivered.
- Product stage: manufacturing about 35% and raw material supply about 34% of greenhouse gas emissions; kiln drying, sawing and fasteners were the main sources.
- Nonrenewable fossil fuels were almost 52% of total primary energy, 225 MJ per functional unit.
Limits
The functional unit is product delivered, not a pallet, so the result can't be divided into a per-pallet factor without the trip assumptions. It describes industry averages, not a specific supplier. Check the paper's acknowledgements for who funded and supplied data.
Sources
- Cradle-to-grave life-cycle assessment of wooden pallet production in the United States (Res. Pap. FPL-RP-707) USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (Alanya-Rosenbaum and Bergman, 2020). Accessed October 27, 2026. Table 2 (p. 8): average weights of 48×40 in. designs.