EcoDuro, Inc. is a manufacturing, engineering and marketing company in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

 that holds patents in the major industrial companies for its unique engineered paper pallet

Paper pallet

Paper pallets are shipping or display pallets made from paperboard.-Construction:Paper shipping pallets come in corrugated fiberboard, partial wood decks or engineered with laminated paperboard...

s. EcoDuro is a company that is focused on developing products for sustainable business

Sustainable business

Sustainable business, or green business, is enterprise that has no negative impact on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy—a business that strives to meet the triple bottom line. Often, sustainable businesses have progressive environmental and human rights policies...

 practices.
EcoDuro's standard pallet

Pallet

A pallet , sometimes called a skid, is a flat transport structure that supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, pallet jack, front loader or other jacking device. A pallet is the structural foundation of a unit load which allows handling and storage efficiencies...

s weigh just 9 to 19 pounds, which us about 1/3 the weight of wood pallets that are historically used. Lighter weight has advantages for reduced fuel consumption and reduced air and LTL (Less than Truck Load) shipping costs, as well as help with OSHA

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970...

 compliance.

The EcoDuro and other paper pallets meet the IPPC regulations and are easily recycled and re-pulpable.

History

The Company was founded in 2001 with the name Excalibur Pallet Group and the patents for its engineered paper pallets issued in major industrial countries. In 2004, the company was reformed with the name EcoDuro, Inc. with an investment from Endurance Ventures, LLC, an Ann Arbor Venture Capital

Venture capital

Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...

 Firm as its first cleantech investment. Significant, is that it was one of the rare venture capital backed companies to be moved to Michigan as opposed to being moved from Michigan.

Originally, EcoDuro built its own manufacturing, but after the product was developed, changed its model to contract manufacturing using regional partners who already had paper honeycomb capabilities and expertise.

Partners

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• Honeycomb Products of Michigan, Manufacturing Partner
• Endurance Ventures, LLC, Investment Partner
• Clark Hill, Legal Counsel

Third Party Testing

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• Michigan State University School of Packaging
  Michigan State University
  Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
  
  
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech , is a public land-grant university with the main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia with other research and educational centers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and internationally.Founded in...
  
  

Customers

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• Amway
  Amway
  Amway is a direct selling company and manufacturer that uses network marketing to sell a variety of products, primarily in the health, beauty, and home care markets. Amway was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos...
  
  
• Consolidated Buscuit
• GE Medical
• Ocean Spray
  Ocean Spray (cooperative)
  Ocean Spray is an agricultural cooperative of growers of cranberries and grapefruit headquartered in Lakeville/Middleborough, Massachusetts. It currently has over 600 member growers . The cooperative employs about 2,000 people, with sales of $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2005...
  
  
• Pfizer
  Pfizer
  Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...
  
  

External links

• Official EcoDuro website
• IPPC
  Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control
  Directive 2008/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2008 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control is a directive of the European Union. It replaces the Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 on the same subject matter; both are commonly...
  
  
• RESY
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
  Occupational Safety and Health Administration
  The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970...
  
  
• USDA
  United States Department of Agriculture
  The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...