I want to talk about something close to home in our industry that has been a point of debate for quite some time: Should companies move away from wood packaging in favor of plastic alternatives for environmental reasons?
It sounds logical on the surface. Here at Craters & Freighters Pensacola, we have even considered alternative materials for our custom wood crates. I wanted to share what information I have found throughout my research and hear from others as we all work towards a cleaner future.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), plastic packaging is recycled at only about 13% in the United States. Wood-based packaging? Nearly double those numbers at roughly 27%. Wood crate recycling almost entirely happens through chipping, mulching, and composting, using infrastructure that already exists across the country in a way that it simply doesn’t for most plastics. When plastic crates get damaged, they don’t decompose. They fragment and persist in the environment for hundreds of years.
The broader industry trend reflects this reality. Fiber-based, sustainable packaging solutions already make up the largest share of global packaging consumption. Amazon recently made its biggest plastic reduction in North America by replacing plastic air pillows with 100% recycled paper filler.
For our part, whether we are building heavy-duty containers or handling heavy equipment shipping, we’ve never believed that using wood and caring about the environment are at odds. We build crates from sustainably sourced lumber, use biodegradable materials wherever possible, and have funded the planting of over 992,500 trees through our partnerships with Trees for the Future and the Arbor Day Foundation.
On the surface, it is easy to see how cutting down trees for industrial packaging can throw up red flags for people. However, when sourced responsibly, commercial lumber comes from managed farms, not wildlife habitats, making it a renewable resource with the means to replenish itself for generations.
We all share the same goal here — a cleaner world for our kids. But good intentions have to be guided by real data. Right now, the data doesn’t make a strong case for plastic.
I’d love to hear how you are approaching material sourcing for your own operations. What’s working, what isn’t, and what have you learned along the way?