chaz3The high volume throughputs and working speeds of today’s warehouse and logistics operations put heavy pressure on traditional timber pallets to perform. On top of that, pallets in automated storage and retrieval systems must meet these applications’ exacting demands, and timber pallets for export must comply with the ISPM15 standard or the goods on them face being delayed from entering various countries. It’s prompted the rise and rise of the plastic pallet, with Goplasticpallets.com, the UK’s leading independent supplier, seeing sales increase 30% since 2007. As the company’s Jim Hardisty points out in our interview, plastic pallets’ size and weight remain constant throughout their working life, whereas wood pallets used in automated conveying operations can get distorted, crack and even break, with serious consequences.

To meet ISPM15, wood pallets for export must be debarked and certified as treated by a company with the proper certification: plastic pallets are unaffected. On top of this, the EU is considering bringing in ISPM15 for goods travelling internally between countries. Then there’s the cost versus lifetime argument. Heavy-duty plastic pallets used for storage in racking are up to two and a half times the price of equivalent wooden ones, but last up to five times longer. Lightweight export pallets are the same price as ISPM15 standard wooden heat-treated debarked ones.

The timber lobby is keen to defend its territory. The Timber Packaging Federation (TIMCON)’s President John Dye maintains there are still “a number of serious question marks over the suitability of plastics as an alternative.”

TIMCON’s PR person points out that the US National Wooden Pallet & Container Association, of which John Dye, a Brit, is International Director, has expressed concerns over some US plastic pallet manufacturers’ use of deca-bromine as a fire retardant. This comes after local fire chiefs said plastic pallets were potentially flammable and so posed a greater fire risk. The NWPCA also cites some studies suggesting products containing deca-bromine can leach, making them potentially unsafe for use in food chains, or dangerous to the environment.

John Dye argues that timber is better for the environment as it comes from sustainable, managed forests and has a negative carbon footprint. “It is a renewable resource that plays a significant role in reducing climate change because it stores carbon as it grows. Timber pallets can be made to countless sizes and configurations, not limited by mould sizes. Timber pallets and packaging are easily repaired and can be chipped for use in chipboard, composite blocks and animal bedding.”

John Dye made headlines in March when he said the difficult economic climate had caused huge implications for supply chains throughout the world, and with a dramatic drop in demand for timber packaging and pallets. Since then TIMCON’s PR person says demand is still low, but there is some evidence to suggest recovery in some industries. Demand from the food and drink sector, in particular, has remained fairly stable. Watch this space!

Warehouse & Logistics News

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