Want this run on your real data?
Send your volume and we will return a modelled ledger against your actual footprints.
Most of our customers land between 70 and 95%. The remainder is genuine new-lumber work: pharma, export, cleanroom.
Annual figures from 14,400 platform movements a year. Assumptions: 24 kg CO₂e to build new, 3.1 kg to recover and repair, 220 usable board feet per tree, 40 lb per platform. Change the inputs and watch the arithmetic move — we would rather show the method than quote you a number you cannot check.
Six factors, six sources of argument.
We have put these in the open deliberately. If you think a factor is wrong, tell us — three customers have, and two of them were right.
| Factor | Value used | Basis and uncertainty |
|---|---|---|
| Board feet per 48×40 GMA | 37 bd ft | Measured across our own builds; ranges 35–40 depending on board thickness and deck count. |
| New pallet manufacture | 24 kg CO₂e | Cradle-to-yard including harvest, milling, drying, fasteners and inbound transport. Published studies range roughly 20–30. |
| Recovery and repair | 3.1 kg CO₂e | Our own fuel, electricity and consumable records divided by platforms processed. Dominated by the truck. |
| Usable board feet per tree | 220 bd ft | A mature plantation pine. Highly variable by species, age and site — treat the 'trees' figure as illustrative, not forensic. |
| Platform weight | 40 lb (GMA) | Typical for recycled softwood GMA. Hardwood runs heavier; the calculator adjusts by footprint. |
| Car-mile equivalence | 0.4 kg CO₂e / mile | Average US passenger vehicle. Used purely to make the tonnage legible, not as a claim about cars. |
Four honest caveats.
A calculator with an output to one decimal place implies a precision that nobody in this industry actually has. Read these before you quote the number anywhere.
- It is a model, not a measurement. Your actual diversion tonnage comes from our scale and appears in the quarterly report, not from this page.
- It assumes your recovery runs are local. If your platforms travel hundreds of miles to be recovered, the benefit shrinks materially.
- It does not model your own internal handling, storage losses or damage rates, which can be a significant term.
- It credits avoided manufacture, not sequestration. Claiming the carbon stored in the wood as well would be double counting, and plenty of published figures do exactly that.