Resources  :  THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF HEAT-TREATED PALLETS

In the shipping industry, wood-based pallets and other wood-based packaging materials play an important role. They are

• cheaper to produce than plastic or metal substitutes
• sturdy enough to encase a heavy load
• thus, widely used

Pallets made from raw wood, however, possess the potential to harm the environment in ways plastic or metal packaging materials cannot. Unless wood packaging materials are heat-treated based on the requirements specified by the IPPC, they possess the potential to release into the environment what the US Department of Agriculture calls harmful nonindigenous organisms or invasive species. Heat-treating pallets used in international shipping is essential in stopping the spread of nonindigenous, invasive species.

What is an Invasive Species?

An invasive species is one that is able to reproduce freely and quickly over a large area, virtually undisturbed by the indigenous flora and fauna. These invasive species are extremely harmful to the environment, often destroying the ecological balance in a given habitat. Obviously, there is only so much of the life-sustaining natural resources available to both humans and plant and animal life. Invasive species can quickly consume great quantities of the sunlight, water, air and other nutrients of the environment it's overrun.

The Effects of Invasive Species on its Host Habitat

Obviously, a species of plant or animal that moves into a foreign area may not have a natural predator near. With its new-found freedom, this species can reproduce rapidly and freely and can quickly drive rare and endangered species out of existence. Even stronger, more abundant species of native plants and animals may be forced into decline due to the invading species. Invaders disrupt the natural relationship, the natural balance of things, within the ecology of its invaded environment. For humans, the implications of invasion by a foreign species of plant or animal are myriad. From destroying and damaging desirable native, ornamental plants to negatively affecting crop growth and increasing erosion around roadsides and shorelines, invasive species disrupt and destroy natural habitats.

In light of the repercussions the infiltration of an invasive species into our natural habitats could have, heat-treating pallets used in international shipping seems an insurmountably important action. Great care should be taken to ensure that pallets are being constructed and treated with the welfare of the world's ecology in mind. Following only the minimum requirements set forth by the IPPC for heat-treating pallets is a simple step that leads to the destruction of nearly all undesirable vermin that inhabit the wood used in packaging.