Wood Pallet Association Members' Products Earn the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label

The BioPreferred® Program and the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) today announced that all coated and uncoated wood pallets manufactured with NWPCA's Pallet Design System™ (PDS) are now recognized by BioPreferred. Wood pallet manufacturers that use PDS™ may now affix the USDA Certified Biobased Product label to their PDS-made pallets showing they are 100% biobased products.

"Achieving certification for our PDS™ users confirms the strong environmental attributes of wood pallets and presents tremendous opportunities for our members," said Brent McClendon, President and CEO of NWPCA. All Federal agencies and their contractors have a sustainable product acquisition mandate to purchase biobased products identified the BioPreferred program.

"Biobased certification for NWPCA members' pallets is an important step in demonstrating the sustainability of wood products," said Kate Lewis of BioPreferred. "This association is working with USDA to increase 'market pull' for innovative wood products, while helping to educate businesses, institutions, supply chains, and consumers about the meaning of biobased and sharing information about the value of products' renewable carbon content."

Hundreds of companies are now partners in the Program and may begin labelling their pallets.

McClendon added, "It is a tremendous honor for us that USDA has recognized the innovative aspects of our Pallet Design System™ and how incorporating durability into wood pallet design reduces our nation's reliance on petroleum. The biobased label is an impactful way to show what our industry is made of."