Inevitably, the pallet sector has to pay far more attention to environmental concerns than it once did. As there is a great deal of pressure to re-use pallets, it is often worth using a pallet pooling firm. Environmentalists may look down on plastics, but in fact plastics are better than wood at reducing fuel emissions.
This article was first published in the December 15th 2020 issue of Warehouse & Logistics News, subscribe to the magazine by clicking here.
The end of the Brexit transition period also means that all wooden pallets leaving and entering the UK must meet the requirements of ISPM15, according to Diane Carroll, Commercial Director at pallet pooling expert LPR. ISPM15, International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15, ensures that there are no ‘unauthorised travellers’ (diseases or pests) on-board your pallets, being transported from country to country.
ISPM15 will require that all wooden pallets moving into and out of Europe will need to be heat treated and stamped in line with these regulations. Pallets that do not comply will lead to additional checking time at borders, and the possibility of returned goods on pallets (additional transportation/storage costs), potential costs for destruction or repalletisation – not to mention the cost of perished goods.
Goplasticpallets.com has reported a surge in plastic pallet sales for exports since September, with sales up 20% in comparison to the same period last year. Jim Hardisty, Managing Director of Goplasticpallets.com, said: “We’ve seen real positive growth these past few months. Enquiries for plastic pallets are up 30% overall; most of these are export related, which has increased our sales of nestable and entry level pallets. It’s clear that exporters confidence in using wooden pallets has dropped considerably since the industry announced it’s struggling to heat treat enough pallets by the final Brexit deadline on 31 December 2020, when all wooden pallets transiting between the UK and EU must be ISPM15-compliant.”
Yet whilst plastic export pallet sales soar, the wooden pallet industry is facing yet another hurdle – how to repair wooden pallets to meet the new heat treatment requirements. It seems that the wooden packaging industry is being forced to take additional measures to grow their stock of compliant wooden pallets.
Interroll’s new modular pallet conveyor platform (MPP) is a versatile solution for handling pallets. Combined with the company’s tried-and-tested flow storage solution, MPP provides the ideal basis for creating comprehensive storage and conveyor solutions for all kinds of applications. MPP offers flexibility, robustness, minimal installation effort and space-saving design.
RM2’s BlockPal reusable block pallets are IoT connected. IoT sensor data are transmitted to the cloud via the LTE-M network, making visible the pallet’s location and condition both indoors and in transit without requiring any additional hardware or IT development. Every BLOCKPal pallet features embedded autonomous IoT sensor technology.
The industry will do well to remember it takes far less energy to recycle plastic than it does to recycle wood.
George Simpson
Features Editor
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