Greenway wood pallets are now USDA certified as BioPreferred. The USDA certification provides industrial buyers seeking environmentally conscious shipping a well-recognized standard.

After extensive third-party testing involving numerous products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recognized the wood pallets manufactured with National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) Pallet Design System (PDS) qualify to be certified under the USDA’s BioPreferred Program. The goal of this program is to encourage the purchase and use of biobased products – in other words, products manufactured wholly or in significant part from renewable, biological products instead of petroleum-based materials such as conventional plastics. The program helps promote economic development and creates jobs while reducing our country’s reliance on petroleum and reducing the harmful environmental impact of fossil fuel consumption.

Certification under the USDA BioPreferred Program involves mandatory federal agency purchases, as well as voluntary labeling:

  1. Mandatory federal purchasing means simply that when any federal agency or its contractors need to buy a category of product in which BioPreferred options exist, the agency must purchase one of these biobased options.
  2. The voluntary labeling initiative allows businesses with biobased products who meet USDA criteria to label these products as USDA Certified Biobased Products. This label helps buyers identify products that are made from renewable materials and have less of an adverse environmental impact. Purchasers may rely on the trustworthiness of these labels because the manufacturer’s claims are investigated and certified by a third party and rigorously monitored by the USDA.

Pallet Design SystemWhat this means for the pallet industry is that any wooden pallet manufacturing company that is a licensee of the NWPCA’s Pallet Design System (PDS) – including Greenway Products & Services – is automatically a participant in the BioPreferred Program, and may label its pallets as USDA Certified Biobased Products. This informs companies seeking supply chain and packaging solutions that PDS wood pallets are manufactured from sustainably harvested domestic lumber, a renewable and environmentally friendly resource. Choosing renewable, biobased products over non-renewable, petroleum-based plastics helps reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

PDS is a computer-assisted engineering and design tool developed and licensed by the NWPCA, which allows individual pallet manufacturers to design and produce stronger, safer, and sturdier pallets. This computer program, which factors in the natural strength and durability of wood, enables manufacturers to produce more reliable and higher-performing pallets. PDS is the culmination of 30 years of engineering research and testing, focused on taking full advantage of the inherent strength and durability of wood to produce lighter weight pallets that use less raw material while remaining robust and long lasting. As such, all coated and uncoated wood pallets designed and manufactured using PDS has received USDA certification and is eligible for BioPreferred labeling. Pallets produced by multiple companies using PDS underwent extensive third-party testing in order to ensure the eligibility of all pallets designed using PDS.

For the companies and large-scale buyers looking for pallets, the fact that the USDA’s BioPreferred certification is granted to any pallets constructed using the NWPCA’s Pallet Design System helps to streamline the selection process of choosing a pallet supplier. If all of the candidate companies are using PDS to design their pallets, you can be assured that any pallets you buy will be biobased and sustainable, which allows you to focus on the other benefits that each pallet supply company offers in order to determine which supplier will best fit your business’s individual needs. As long as you see that BioPreferred label, you can trust that you’ve made a sensible choice for both the environment and for your business.

About Greenway Products & Services

Greenway Products & Services, LLC is the largest pallet re-manufacturer and recyclers in NY, NJ, PA, MD, and DE. We also accept scrap wood from our customers that we turn into valuable resources. Greenway is a highly-rated, full-service pallet management company. Contact us for a quote today at sales@greenwaypsllc.com. Visit our website, greenwaypsllc.com or call us at 732-442-0200. We can deliver trailers to you on a moment’s notice throughout the NY-NJ-PA-MD-DE Mid-Atlantic area.