This results in more than 6 million tons of wood pallets being dumped into municipal landfills every year, approaching 5% of the TOTAL contribution to solid waste in landfills in the USA!

These pallets require destruction of well over 1 million acres of hardwood forests that will take up to 40 years to replace . . . and this is happening every single year!!

Even though disposal costs penalties of $1.50 are being charged by many landfills, the environmental damage goes on and on . . . !

Please see the below ENVIRO ISSUES information to learn more about the enormous “eco-menace” being created by wood pallets.

Also, please read the IMPACT document following, which describes the increasing regulatory pressure being put upon wood packaging in the Import/Export business.

The time has come to apply new technology to solving this worldwide environmental problem! AIRDEX INTERNATIONAL has a wonderful new alternative as presented in the new super-lightweight, 100% recyclable pallet available now.

Beginning in October of 2001, the European Union (EU) has implemented emergency requirements to prevent the spread of wood-carried, environmentally harmful pests into Europe. These restrictions focus on coniferous, non-manufactured wood packaging, including pallets, crates and dunnage exported from the United States, Canada, Japan and China. All such packaging must carry proof of appropriate heat and/or chemical treatment on each board!

Similarly Asia-Pacific countries, including Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines have also tightened restrictions on importation of wood packaging as evidence of "dangerous wood hitch-hikers" and their consequential environmental damage is becoming increasingly evident.

In March 2002 the International Plant Protection Organization (IPPO), which is a division of the United Nations, implemented a global standard governing all non-manufactured wood packaging (both coniferous and non-coniferous), and it will be implemented over a 1-2 year timeframe. Actual implementation will be left to the individual country, creating more uncertainty and risk for exporters, as interpretation and consequential actions at national authority levels relating to the standard will undoubtedly be "non-standard" for some time.

The standard requires solid wood packaging (SWP) to be treated and marked. Treatment methods include heat treatment, chemical pressure impregnation and fumigation with methyl bromide. The international standard sets specific treatment requirements. For example, heat-treated lumber/packaging must be heated at the core to 56 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. This can be achieved by using a dry kiln or any other approved heat treatment chamber.

In some cases, fumigation, chemical pressure impregnation or other treatment methods will be allowed, as long as the importing country approves. However, experts stress that fumigation will become the exception, not the rule. The primary chemical used in fumigation is methyl bromide, which has often been banned because it is an ozone depleting substance.