Wood pallets are used globally by almost every industry and at one point or another in the supply chain. So why compared to plastic or metal pallets, blocks of pallet wood are so commonly used? Let’s find out in the following article.
Why choose blocks of pallet wood instead of plastic pallets?
Many people prefer wooden pallets over plastic pallets for many reasons including:
- Fully repairable wooden pallets
- Fully recyclable wooden pallets
- Wooden pallets offer strength and reliability
- Wooden pallets have little impact on the environment throughout their lifecycle
- Wood is renewable and easy to find and process.
Once the plastic pallet is damaged, it is very difficult to repair, if it can be repaired completely. Although plastic pallets can be recycled, the process of recycling them pollutes the environment.
Wooden pallets can be easily recycled making them a great choice for cost-effectiveness and the environment. Also, if a wooden pallet needs to be repaired, the repair can be affected quite easily!
Manufacturing wooden pallets have less impact on the environment than manufacturing plastic pallets. Wood is a renewable raw material, plastic is made from petroleum from fossil fuels.
In most cases, wood is not only an eco-friendly option but also a more cost-effective option. Pallets have a service life of about 10 years with minimal repairs. They can be recycled and reused once they are used up in the supply chain. Plastics are not biodegradable and are not entirely user-friendly when it comes to reusing them.
Myths about pallet wood
There are many things people mistakenly believe about wood pallets, including:
Not all pallets are created equal, many believe that only one specific type is used to create pallets. The actual wooden pallets can be designed according to the requirements of each customer, tailored to their goods.
Wooden pallets are just wood chips. This is also not true, while at the end of its life a pallet can become a pile of scrap, it can start using wood that can be used for sofas, and kitchen tables, …Most pallets start with premium wood.
All wood pallets are unsafe. While some pallet wood is chemically treated, most today are heat treated so it is completely safe to work with.
What wood is used for pallets?
There are many types of wood used to make pallets, some of the most popular pallet wood materials are pine and melaleuca. The majority of lumber for pallets is determined by a number of different factors including:
- Wood Availability
- Wood price
- Pallet production area
- Aesthetic requirements
Basically, any type of wood can be used to make pallets but ultimately the type of wood used depends on the availability of the wood and the cost of the wood, and whether the quality of the wood meets the requirements for export. or not.
Pine pallets are a very popular choice for pine because pine trees are abundant in many areas of the world and are often the source of raw materials for pallets. In Vietnam, pine is grown exclusively for the purpose of producing pallet wood. Pine has a reasonable price and the pine wood can be effectively disinfected with ISPM15 standard, and specially tested to meet EPAL standards for export to European countries and markets with strict requirements.
See more export wooden pallet standards here
