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Sustainability Impact Calculator
Estimate the weight kept out of landfill and the CO2e avoided by recycling or reusing pallets, gaylords, drums and IBC totes, using EPA WARM factors.
Your packaging
What you keep out of landfill each month.
Typical: 48×40 GMA wood pallet, listed at 38–42 lb empty.
How the estimate is calculated
Weight kept out of landfill is units a month times the empty weight per unit, divided by 2,000 lb for short tons. Emissions avoided is those short tons times the gap between WARM's net landfilling emissions and its net recycling or reuse emissions for the closest WARM material. WARM models dimensional lumber, the material for wood pallets, as reuse only, and its definition includes pallets and crates. Every other material is modelled as recycling, so a reused drum or gaylord is estimated at its recycling value.
| Packaging | Typical empty weight | WARM material (pathway) | Recycled or reused | Landfilled | Avoided per ton |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood pallets | 40 lb | Dimensional Lumber (reuse) | -1.66 | -0.92 | 0.74 |
| Plastic pallets | 30 lb | HDPE (recycling) | -0.76 | 0.02 | 0.78 |
| Gaylord boxes | 15 lb | Corrugated Containers (recycling) | -3.14 | 0.18 | 3.32 |
| IBC totes | 135 lb | Not in WARM | Not in WARM | Not in WARM | Not in WARM |
| Steel drums | 46 lb | Steel Cans (recycling) | -1.83 | 0.02 | 1.85 |
| Plastic drums | 21.5 lb | HDPE (recycling) | -0.76 | 0.02 | 0.78 |
IBC totes show weight only. A tote is an HDPE bottle in a steel cage on a pallet, and WARM has no factor for the combined unit.
Sources
Emission factors come from the EPA Waste Reduction Model (WARM), Version 16, December 2023, documentation for greenhouse gas emission and energy factors: Exhibit 3-7, Net Emissions for Paper Products under Each Materials Management Option; Exhibit 12-3, Net Emissions for Wood Products under Each Materials Management Option; Exhibit 5-3, Net Emissions for Plastics under Each Materials Management Option; Exhibit 2-7, Net Emissions for Metals under Each Materials Management Option.
Typical empty weights come from manufacturer and distributor listings for the most common size of each unit, linked from each weight in the table above. Weight varies with size, construction and condition, so enter the weight of your own units when you know it.
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