•What is the problem/issue being addressed?
Airlines, railroads and trucking companies use pallets to haul products that we consume.
Since their invention in the twentieth century, their use has dramatically supplanted older forms of crating like the wooden box and the wooden barrel, as it works well with modern packaging like cardboard boxes and intermodal containers commonly used for bulk shipping. Pallets make it easier to move heavy stacks. Loads with pallets under them can be hauled by forklift trucks of different sizes, or even by hand-pumped and hand-drawn pallet jacks. Movement is easy on a wide, strong, flat floor. The greatest investment needed for economical pallet use is in the construction of commercial or industrial buildings.
Currently, the main pallets that are used for shipment in the industry are wooden pallets, closely followed by plastics pallets, and finally cardboard pallets. However, all of them have drawbacks:
Wooden pallets:
• Are heavy, big and come in a few standard sizes which limit the available truck bed volume: companies need more trucks to transport the same amount of product.
• Are not compliant with ISPM 15. They must be debarked and then heat treated or fumigated with methyl bromide and stamped or branded with a mark of compliance. The consequence is higher costs of production.
Lighter solutions as plastic or cardboard pallets:
Plastic pallets:
• Are very expensive (up to 6 times more expensive than their wood equivalent).
• Their manufacturing process is costly (consumes 5 times more energy and 8 times more raw materials than wooden/cardboard pallets) and non-eco-friendly (releases a lot of emissions and generates more waste).
• Require maintenance and cleaning of each pallet after their use.
Cardboard pallets:
• They cannot withstand certain weather conditions, mainly wet conditions.
• Are only suitable for light loads: maximum 750 kg.
• Need a special-purpose forklift attachment to correctly handle them with minimal difficulty and damage.
•Why is it important for society?
Currently, 90% of pallets are made of wood. However, there is a trend pointing to cardboard as the natural replacement in the short term. The industry is challenged to ensure full sustainability of products in manufacturing, transportation, logistics and recovery. The only material that would fulfil this challenge is cardboard.
Drawbacks of the current solutions are:
• Wooden pallets (90% of those used): i) Expensive and heavy; ii) Difficult to recycle; iii) Require fumigation to prevent entry of pests to the country of destination according international regulations ISPM-15.
• Pallets of cardboard or paper (5% -10%): i) Don’t resist heavy loads; ii) Problems resulting from moisture.
• Plastic pallets (2%): i) Expensive; ii) High index of breaks; ii) Non recyclable; iii) Some contaminant components.
UPALET is a cost-effective and recyclable cardboard pallet that is as strong and can carry just as much as wooden EUR pallets, yet it is 13% lower and 80% lighter. UPALET will ensure that trucks, ships and airplanes shipments are much closer to 100% than currently is the case (e.g. 40t trucks: from 97% to 99.5%) (Note that a 40t truck may carry up to 33 wooden EUR pallets: 891 kg of dead weight).
ALPESA addresses the EU Transport Challenge by reducing the number of vehicles required to transport the same amount of product due to the replacement of wood and plastic pallets with UPALET pallets. As a consequence, we will minimise transport’s systems’ impact on climate and the environment; with a substantial reduction of traffic congestion; and with a substantial improvement in the mobility of freight.
•What are the overall objectives?
A total of 4 global objectives have been set out for the proposal as a whole:
1) Adjusting the pallet specifications for the transport of different products: consumer goods, fresh food, retail, manufacturing and automotive.
2) Upscaling of the UPALET production from pilot plant to industrial plant, in order to produce 1 UPALET/22 s.
3) Demonstration of UPALET in the transport of consumer goods, fresh food, retail, manufacturing and automotive (real operating environment).
4) Draft and deliver a comprehensive, investor-ready business plan,
