Used plastic pallets: buying, repairing and recycling

In briefA used plastic pallet is worth buying for warehousing and packaged goods if the seller grades it by condition and you inspect it first: cracks, warping, reinforcement, origin. Much of the damage can be repaired, and at end of life HDPE and PP are ground down and become raw material again.

A plastic pallet lasts many trips, so there is a market for used ones. It is worth it if you know what you are buying. This page covers the checks to make, when repair makes sense, who takes pallets back at end of life and how they are recycled.

Used, sorted, repaired: what each word guarantees

There is no standard that defines quality grades for used plastic pallets. Every seller uses its own. One manufacturer, for example, inspects every pallet it buys back and assigns it to one of five quality standards ^[1]. Availability depends on how many used pallets come back, so batches are not continuous ^[1].

When you read "used", "sorted" or "reconditioned", ask for the grading criteria, whether the pallet has been repaired and whether the seller takes it back if it does not conform. Get the answers in writing.

Six-point check before you buy

Take a sample from the batch and look at it closely:

1. Cracks on feet, runners and corners, where the forks work.
2. Warping of the deck: lay a straight edge across it. Plastic gives way over time under constant load, and a pallet that has spent a long time in pallet racking, spanning two beams, may have sagged. The effect is explained in plastic pallet load capacity.
3. Reinforcement: steel bars that are exposed, bent or rusty.
4. Separation between deck and feet, or between top and bottom deck.
5. Hygiene: residue, odours, old labels. If the dirt comes off, washing brings the pallet back into use.
6. History: model, manufacturer, originally declared load capacity and previous use.

If you cannot trace the model, you do not know the load capacity. In that case use the pallet only on the floor and with light loads.

Used pallets and food: when you can't

Direct food contact requires a suitable material and a declaration of compliance. A used pallet of unknown origin has neither. It is fine for goods that are already packaged, if the HACCP plan allows it. The rules are in hygienic and food-grade pallets.

Racking is a risk with used pallets too: in pallet racking the pallet spans two beams, and if it has sagged or been repaired it may no longer carry its racking load. For that use a new reinforced pallet is the better choice, such as the PP69 offered by ROLL with three steel bars ^[7].

Can a plastic pallet be repaired?

Yes, within limits. We found two published cases, using opposite methods.

One US company repairs rackable and thermoformed pallets and said it recovered about 70-80% of the damaged pallets it received ^[2]. The most frequent damage on rackable pallets was separation of the top deck ^[2]. According to the same company, a repair cost a fraction of the price of a new rackable pallet, about a third at most ^[2]. It uses structural adhesives and epoxy resin for holes and blocks, and advises against welding ^[2]. The figures are more than ten years old: take them as an order of magnitude.

In Germany, by contrast, a logistics company repairs plastic pallets with welding equipment and has turned it into a line of business ^[3]. The article by the welder manufacturer gives no figures.

After a repair, the pallet no longer has the certified load capacity of the new model. For floor use the risk is low; for racking and automated warehouses it needs testing.

Take-back and buy-back: what to put in the contract

The right time to decide on end of life is at purchase. Some manufacturers buy back used pallets, resell them and recycle those that can no longer be reused ^[1]. In the contract, ask:

• whether the supplier takes back broken pallets, at what price and with what minimum quantity;
• who pays for return transport;
• whether the pallets are made of a single polymer, which recycles better;
• whether the supplier repairs them and with what warranty.

The other items to put in the contract, from tolerances to acceptance testing, are in the guide to plastic pallet specification.

For wooden pallets put back on the market, CONAI, the Italian packaging recovery consortium, has reduced-rate arrangements; for plastic pallets its page of special cases provides nothing similar ^[4]. CONAI obligations on new pallets are covered in CONAI, plastic tax and EPR.

Recycling: from broken pallet to regrind

HDPE and PP are thermoplastics: a broken pallet is ground down and becomes raw material again. One manufacturer states that it recycles pallets that can no longer be reused into raw materials for new products ^[1]. According to one US repair company, it takes at least two broken pallets to recover the material for one new pallet ^[2]. The figure is American and dates from 2011, so take it as an order of magnitude.

The differences between virgin and recycled material, including for food, are in plastic pallet materials.

Disposal: when the pallet becomes waste

If nobody takes it back for reuse, a broken pallet becomes packaging waste. The European List of Waste groups packaging in chapter 15 ^[5]; for plastic packaging the code used by recovery facilities is 15 01 02 ^[6]. Classification is the responsibility of the waste producer: if the pallet is contaminated with hazardous substances, the code changes. Hand it to an authorised carrier and facility.

Used or new: compare the cost per trip

Price alone does not decide. A cheap used pallet that breaks after a few trips can cost more per trip than a new one. Take the price, estimate the trips the pallet will make in your loop and divide. The method, with a worked example, is in how much a plastic pallet costs. If you lose a lot of pallets on every trip, also compare rental: there you will find the break-even calculation based on losses.

Found a mistake or an outdated figure? Write to us at info@roll-packaging.com