News - Tagged: recycled pallets
How the Core Crisis Presents New Opportunities for Pallet Manufacturers
Chaille Brindley’s recent article in Pallet Enterprise suggests the core shortage witnessed over the last two years is becoming the new norm, prompting recyclers to find new ways to meet customer demand. Although one might think the core crisis is strictly the domain of recyclers and their customers, the scarcity of cores is having a ripple effect on the entire pallet manufacturing landscape.
The collapse of the U.S. economy in the fall of 2008 actually led to a short term abundance of cores that continued well into 2010.Continue Reading…
2012 Pallet Usage and Trending Survey
Each year, Modern Materials Handling conducts a Pallet Usage and Trending Survey. The results of the 2012 study are summarized in Bob Trebilcock’s recent Modern Materials Handling article, “The Pulse on Pallets.” In addition, MMH offers an hour long webcast that features comments from Trebilcock and Dr. Mark White, Professor Emeritus of Virginia Tech’s Center for Unit Load Design. This post highlights some the survey’s key findings and discusses the state of the pallet industry in 2012.Continue Reading…
Clarifying IPPC- ISPM 15 Standards for Recycled Pallets
The ISPM-15 standard is designed to prevent the spread of insects and disease via overseas wood packaging materials such as crates, dunnage, and pallets. The ISPM 15 logo stamp certifies that a wooden pallet has been manufactured using debarked lumber and heat treated or fumigated, making it free of insects and safe for export use. Although the ISPM 15 standard for new pallets is quite unambiguous, the same cannot be said of recycled pallets. Because recycled pallets constitute a significant component of the available pool, the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) recently sought clarification from American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC) to eliminate discrepancies in how various ISPM-15 certification agencies view recycled pallets.Continue Reading…
CHEP and Big Box Retailers Make Presswood Pallets a Cost Effective Alternative
Jeff McBee’s recent article appearing in Pallet Enterprise offers a fascinating look at the impact of CHEP and mass retailing on the pallet industry. U.S. pallet manufacturers and recyclers viewed CHEP’s initial foray into the domestic market with much trepidation. As an international provider of pallet and container pooling services for retail and industrial supply chains, CHEP stood well positioned to dramatically change the pallet industry in the early 90’s.
The mid 1990’s saw CHEP’s domestic pallet pool achieving critical mass and a decline in white wood (non-rental) pallet production. By the end of the decade, retail giants such as Wal-Mart and Costco had partnered with CHEP and abandoned their traditional reliance on white wood pallets. The decline in new white wood pallets flowing into the logistics supply chain led to a corresponding aging of the pallet pool and a subsequent drop in quality. Recyclers accustomed to hauling away used pallets at no cost began paying for their cores.Continue Reading…