Pallets represent a large part of the North American solid wood market, with an estimated demand of 1.9 billion pallets in 2024, and 3.1 billion pallets in stock in 2019(Freedonia, 2020). In 2021, 1.18 billion pallets were produced, 919 million were new pallets, and 280 million were repaired or remanufactured (Hobbs, 2024). When pallets reach their end of life, they are landfilled, or recovered by grinding them for mulch or fuel. The objectives of this study are to quantify the number of pallets that are landfilled or recovered, investigate historical trends regarding wood waste at Municipal Solid Waste and Construction and Demolition landfills and investigate alternate uses for pallets. This study was conducted by sending out paper and electronic questionnaires to active landfills in the continental U.S. The study found that 76.8 million pallets, 8.4% of new pallets in 2021, end up in a landfill but 4% of these pallets will be recovered to some useful product such as mulch and only 4.4% will be buried in the landfill. Landfills encourage the population to separate wood before they send material for landfilling, and they are doing this with lower tipping fees. Landfills indicated alternate uses for recovered pallets include alternate daily cover, to ship e-waste, used for road base, given to residents and chipped for mulch or fuel. The study found that 95-97% of wooden pallets produced in the U.S. are repaired for reused, used for repairing other pallets, or converted into value adding by-products. / Master of Science / Pallets are an important part of the supply chain, with 95% of all US packaged products being shipped on pallets. 95% of the demand of pallets are for wooden pallets (Freedonia). This study focuses on investigating the landfilling and recovery of wooden pallets at MSW (general waste) landfills and CandD (construction and demolition waste) landfills. The study was conducted using a survey which was send to both types of landfills. It was found that over 95% of wooden pallets are recovered in some shape or form.

Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: Till följd av ökade handelsvolymer har användandet av pallar kommit att öka. Hantering av pallar har därför blivit en viktig del i verksamheter, där digitala pallhanteringssystem lyfts som ett hjälpmedel för effektivitet. Digitaliserade pallhanteringssystem kan även ses som ett hjälpmedel för att främja ekonomisk och ekologisk hållbarhet vad gäller företags pallhantering. Trots många fördelar finns även ett antal utmaningar förknippade med implementering av digitala pallhanteringssystem.   Syftet: Studiens syfte är att identifiera hur interna digitaliserade pallhanteringssystem kan bidra till ekonomisk eller ekologisk hållbarhet. Studien syftar även till att se vilka utmaningar som kan ligga till grund hos företag vid implementering med ett internt digitaliserat pallhanteringssystem.  Metod: Studien är kvalitativ och utgår från ett deduktivt synsätt. Den teoretiska referensramen har hämtats genom en litteraturgenomgång. En komparativ design ligger till grund för studiens design, där empiridelen består av fem semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem olika företag. Analysen utgår från en tematisk analys där teorin och empirin ställs emot varandra för att hitta centrala teman. Resultat: Utifrån studien dras slutsatsen att ett internt digitaliserat pallhanteringssystem inte bidrar till ekologisk hållbarhet i större utsträckning än vad manuell pallhantering gör. Gällande ekonomisk hållbarhet kan ett internt digitaliserat pallhanteringssystem leda till kostnadsbesparingar genom ökad informationstillgänglighet samt att företag kan utnyttja de fördelar som finns med att äga sina egna pallar Studien kan även identifiera utmaningar med implementering av ett internt digitaliserat pallhanteringssystem i form av krav på kundanpassning, misstro om ökade kostnader, samt lågt intresse i pallbranschen och bland beslutsfattare. / Background and problem discussion: As a result of increased trading volumes, the use of pallets has increased. Pallet management has therefore become an important part of operations, where digital pallet management systems are highlighted as a tool for efficiency. Digital pallet management systems can also be seen as a tool to promote economic and ecological sustainability in terms of companies' pallet management. Despite many advantages, there are also a number of challenges associated with the implementation of a digital pallet management system.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify how internal digital pallet management systems can contribute to ecological or economic sustainability. The study also aims to see what challenges that can be identified when implementing an internal digital pallet management system.  Method: The study is qualitative and it is based on a deductive approach. The theoretical frame of source has been collected through a literature review. A comparative design has been used for the study's design, where the empirical section consists of five semi-structured interviews with five different companies. The analysis is based on a thematic analysis where the theoretical and empirical sections are analyzed to find central themes.      Results: The results of the study are that it is concluded that an internal digital pallet management system does not contribute to ecological sustainability to a greater extent than what a manual pallet management does. In terms of economic sustainability, the results are that a digital pallet management system can lead to cost savings due to increased information availability and that companies can use the benefits of owning their pallets. Also, challenges are identified with the implementation of a digital pallet management system in terms of requirements for customized systems, mistrust of increased costs, and also low interest in the pallet industry and among decision makers.