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Pallet Management for Recycling: Part Two

The phrase, “white pallet,” is herein used to designate wood pallets other than the pool variety (CHEP and PECO).

Wood Pallets

There is an untold number of pallet users whose supply chains are suited to white pallets. In the U.S., there are close to 2-billion white pallets in service. They enable the efficient handling, transportation, and storage of goods and commodities. Workhorses that they are, they get damaged, sometimes beyond being fit for their designed purpose. Recycling diverts them away from landfills and incinerators, a valued service in these sustainability-conscious times. In addition to benefits to the environment, white pallet recycling benefits costs and efficiencies. To reap them, however, white pallet recycling should be a component of pallet management.

All pallet recycling involves collecting, sorting, disassembling, and repairing. There are major differences, however, between how they are performed by owners of pallet pools vs. how they are performed by white pallet suppliers. One difference is that pallet pools are national, centralized operations, whereas white pallet recycling is decentralized on a regional or local basis. Another is that recycled pool pallets remain the property of the pool operators, whereas recycled white pallets are resold.

Although recycled whites provide an opportunity for cost savings (vis-à-vis new pallets), it should not be at the sacrifice of consistent quality. Quality should be regarded as application-specific; meaning, the pallet is equal to the conditions imposed upon it. When savings and quality are combined, the result is a pallet that does the job, at the lowest price. Price, on the other hand, is relative to other factors, such as the supplier’s reputation, customer service, etc.

The purchase of recycled white pallets should be governed by policy and procedures. That’s true of the evaluation of pallet suppliers. Those suppliers typically are located close to where white pallets accumulate: areas marked by manufacturing/processing, distribution centers, and other industrial activities. The proximity affords the buyer with the opportunity to evaluate suppliers through facility visits. To make such outings worthwhile, evaluations should be performed on a systematic flow basis.

It starts with the supplier’s sourcing. Within the white pallet recycling industry, clients that buy recycled whites often are sources for the empty pallets (called cores) used for the recycling. An issue for negotiation, therefore, is whether a recycler hauls away the pallets for free or for a fee. Another source of empties is independent salvagers, who collect them and then sell them to the recyclers.

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