Plastic pallets may still only account for 8% of the total UK pallet market but if Jim Hardisty, MD of Goplasticpallets.com is right then the auguries suggest that timber pallets will give ground to plastic. “In the next few years we expect more customers to be moving towards a combined plastic approach, using plastic boxes with plastic trays on plastic pallets,” says Jim. The main driver behind this is that such an approach can reduce many clients’ existing packaging by three to four layers, helping them comply with packaging regulations and improve their environmental credentials.
Mr Hardisty also warns that with timber pallets customers should always be vigilant for mould, splinters and weakening timber. He also adds that when considering timber pallets for export, only heat-treated, debarked wooden pallets that have been treated and marked by the same company should be used to meet ISPM15 regulations, an international physiosanitary measure.
But even here there is a potential, serious problem, warns Jim. “Despite the increasing number of countries introducing ISPM15 measures, many exporters are still using ‘used’ wooden pallets, which although bearing an ISPM15 approved mark, could, in fact, have been repaired using non heat-treated timber. This should be of great concern to the industry.”
The current downturn has undoubtedly reduced demand for pallets and pallet distribution services. Kevin Buchanan, MD of Palletline, a leading pallet distribution company, believes volume downturns have reached 20% and thinks that some networks will struggle to survive. “It would be no surprise to me to see fallout and mergers of small networks in the next 6-12 months,” he says.
Big timber pallet users often prefer to outsource pallet control operations to pool operators like Chep and LPR. This may seem a more costly solution than an in-house management approach but LPR advises that customers should breakdown and analyse the whole costs of the supply chain. Only by doing this can a customer truly compare different pallet services options. This is especially true when it comes to choosing pallet pool solutions as while using a completely outsourced solution may first appear more expensive, once the internal costs of having to administer, source, repair and sort pallets is factored in “it’s at least cost neutral if not cost saving,” says LPR.
The price advantage of timber over plastic pallets may not be as compelling in timber’s favour as it once was. At one time a heavy duty plastic pallet cost £50-60 compared with £5-10 for timber but plastic pallet producers continue to innovate to improve their cost appeal. Goplasticpallets, for example, point to their new lightweight nestable LSO range in 1200 x 800mm and 1200 x 1000mm sizes capable of dynamic loads of up to 1,000 kg but weighing just 5 kg and 7 kg respectively. They are not only low cost but much more user friendly given the far higher weight of timber pallets. Yet Jim Hardisty warns that although there has been a gradual reduction in the cost of recycled raw materials (80% of Goplasticpallets’ products are recycled) “We have noticed a hardening in the prices of virgin materials, which could lead to an increase at the end of 2009.”
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