Forest carbon storage

WARM's credit for carbon left in forests when reuse or reduction means less wood is harvested.

Last reviewed October 27, 2026 by repallet.org editors.

When less new wood is needed, fewer trees are cut, and the carbon in them stays in the forest. EPA's WARM model credits this as forest carbon storage for wood products that are reused or reduced at source.

For pallets, it is most of the reuse credit. WARM's Exhibit 12-9 splits the −1.66 MTCO2E per short ton reuse factor for dimensional lumber into −0.10 for avoided process and transport energy and −1.56 for forest carbon storage.

That matters for honest reporting. A reader who assumes a pallet reuse figure is saved diesel or electricity will be misled; most of it is a forest carbon estimate, and depends on WARM's assumptions about harvests. State that in any disclosure. See WARM factors.

Related

• EPA WARM v16 factors for wood pallets
• Pallet reuse: what it is and what it is worth in emissions
• Landfill carbon storage
• Landfill gas (LFG)
• Biogenic CO2
• All terms