Wooden packaging: pallets, industrial packaging, lightweight packaging

Packaging is defined as an object designed to contain and protect goods, to enable them to be handled and transported from producer to user, and to ensure their presentation. It must therefore take into account not only the nature and value of the product, its vulnerability to shocks, and the risks of perishability, but also the mode of transport, the countries of transit and destination, the means of handling, storage conditions, load breaks and the expectations of the end-buyer.

Wood can provide an economical, high-performance solution for every type of packaging. In addition to standardized products that allow goods to be exchanged quickly and easily, wood packaging offers specific, evolving responses to the varied needs and requirements of buyers and users: safety, regulatory, environmental, phytosanitary, etc. Despite competition from other materials (plastic, cardboard, etc.), wood is holding up well, and is even a must for certain types of packaging. In fact, wooden packaging is now emerging as a real solution for the future, meeting the challenges of preservation, logistics, storage and marketing.

Wooden packaging comes in three distinct families. Pallets and crates are transport (or tertiary) packaging, as they are designed to facilitate the handling and transport of products between a manufacturer and a distributor, in order to avoid physical handling and transport damage. The product is separated from the packaging at the distributor. As for industrial or custom packaging, these are special crates or packaging dedicated to the transport of bulky products (aeronautical, automotive, IT, defense industries, etc.) or particularly precious items (works of art) classified, like pallets, in the tertiary (or transport) packaging category. Finally, light wooden packaging, closely linked to agri-food products, is also, in the majority of cases, considered tertiary packaging. However, some of them can be assimilated to primary or sales packaging, in the sense that they have been designed to constitute a distinct unit for the consumer or end-user at the point of sale (oyster shells, strawberry trays, cheese boxes, etc.).

Naturally sustainable, sourced for the most part from PEFC-certified forests, wooden containers meet the expectations of a society in search of decarbonation and a circular economy. With energy-efficient manufacturing processes, – processors, who claim to be "Made in France" –, are also keen to promote short supply chains. And as well as being suitable for food contact, wood packaging is recyclable, reusable and repairable.

This article looks at wood packaging from a technical, environmental and market angle, shedding light on the standardization of these everyday products, essential links in the...