Pallets have been a part of operations in various industries for many years and have completely changed the way they store, move and transport goods from the warehouse to the customer. The first pallet was made in 1925 out of timber, and since then, they have become a necessity in the modern supply chain. They are relied on for many applications, such as storing, transporting and even for product displays in shops, making it difficult for a business to operate efficiently without them. Pallets are made to create quicker processes to help businesses keep up with demands, making it easier to manoeuvre goods with forklifts and lift them manually. They protect staff from harm and give your business efficient movement throughout the supply chain. Having this easy loading and unloading process ensures that customers and end-users gain very high-quality goods that are in pristine condition, due to the faster times and reinforced protection.
As time has gone on, there have been many developments to pallets to further improve their efficiency and performance. Although wooden pallets dominated logistics for every industry for many years, the more contemporary and durable plastic pallets are becoming increasingly popular for many industries. Plastic pallets have transformed the operations of many industries with a strong, durable, sturdy and long-lasting solution that offers so much more than their wooden counterparts. However, many businesses still rely on wooden pallets and wonder why use plastic pallets if wooden ones are working fine? Explore just why you should switch to plastic pallets and unlock the benefits of these solutions for smoother, quicker operations.
What Are Durable Plastic Pallets?
Durable plastic pallets are basically an improved alternative to traditional wooden ones. They are a lot more sustainable and are changing the way storage and transportation operations are done. Plastic pallets are typically made from strong materials, like high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polypropylene (PP). They are designed to support a wide variety of goods during handling processes to offer stability and unmatched protection. Because they are made from raw plastic, with some being made from a combination of raw and recycled plastic, they are a lot more hygienic because they can be thoroughly cleaned. These great alternatives are also less prone to breakage and damage, even when exposed to the harshest elements as they are highly resistant to moisture, chemicals and pests. This provides you with a much longer lifespan than the traditional pallet and can be something you can rely on regularly. Plastic pallets can come in many different styles to provide you with a solution that’s made for you, from heavy duty plastic pallets to hygienic closed-deck options.
The Benefits of Plastic Pallets
The benefits of plastic pallets are immense and can improve processes for numerous businesses, making them smoother than when you use wooden pallets.
Quality Material That’s Hygienic
The main benefit is the type of material these pallets are made from. Typically, they are made from HDPE and PP, which are strong materials that are highly resistant to moisture, bacteria and other contaminants. This means that these alternatives are very hygienic and can prevent contaminating your products. These materials have a smooth, non-porous surface to stop pests or insects from creating a home in them, which occurs a lot with wooden pallets. They also don’t need to be heat treated before use, so you can instantly start using them and reaping the rewards. This is vital for industries that handle food, medicines and pharmaceuticals. Another advantage of the materials of durable plastic pallets is that they can be moulded easily into various shapes and sizes to cater to your needs. There are many different choices to choose from for all sorts of applications, allowing you to get exactly what you need. The materials also give plastic pallets exceptional strength and durability, so you can use them for heavy loads. You can even get stronger, durable pallets for heavy loads to handle awkward and heavy goods, which is perfect for industries that handle machinery, like the automotive industry.
Eco-Friendly to Help the Planet
As well as the materials providing you with plenty of benefits, these solutions are much more sustainable than traditional options. They are kind to our planet because they don’t rely on using natural materials. Plastic pallets are made from raw plastic, which can be fully recycled at the end of their service life. These options can be transformed into something else or even a new plastic pallet, repurposing the materials rather than throwing them into a landfill. Some can even be made from recycled plastic, giving old plastic a new lease of life! On top of this, the quality plastic used to make these solutions provides incredible durability and resistance to wear and tear. These pallets can withstand much heavier weights without breaking, even when exposed to the harshest environments and various elements. They won’t absorb moisture and will maintain their sturdy structure no matter what. This gives you a very long service life, meaning you don’t have to regularly replace your pallets and use up a lot of natural material that damages the environment.
Cost-Effective
Due to durable plastic pallets having a much longer lifespan, they help you to save money in the long run. Even though they have a larger initial cost than wooden pallets, plastic solutions can last for more than ten years in demanding environments. This means that they pay off as time goes by and save you a lot of money on replacing broken wooden pallets. You can invest this money into other parts of your business to help it to thrive and prevent you from focusing on logistics too much. Having a reliable, sturdy pallet solution helps you to focus on the more important things, like getting your goods to customers and end-users, which creates quicker processes with less hassle.
Types of Plastic Pallets for Various Applications
Durable plastic pallets come in all different types to give you the best solution for the job. You can get a variety of pallets that assist with all sorts of goods and applications, helping you to find a solution that makes processes easier and smoother. These types are:
- Standard sizes: You can get these pallets in standard sizes to comply with various regulations across the world. There are Euro-sized pallets and UK standard sizes to make storing and transporting easier across the world.
- Lightweight & Medium Duty: Durable plastic pallets can come in lightweight and medium duty options for lighter loads and easier handling.
- Heavy Duty plastic pallets: You can get durable pallets for heavy loads that are designed to withstand immense weights and capacities, perfect for bulky goods like machinery.
- Hygienic & Closed Deck: For goods that need to be kept in very sanitary conditions, you can choose hygienic and closed deck pallets. These have non-porous, smooth surfaces that can be easily cleaned and prevents contamination and insects from living inside them.
- Rackable: These types are designed to be placed in open beam pallet racking, no matter what items are loaded onto them. They allow you to organise your storage space and keep on top of your stock easily.
- POS display: There are even pallets made for displaying goods in shops. These create wonderful, interesting displays that showcase what a shop has to offer to encourage customers to purchase from them.
- Collapsible & Stackable: These solutions are perfect at saving space in storage and transportation. They can organise a space and easily stack or collapse to give you more space to fit more goods in.
- Custom pallets: If you need something even more personalised for certain applications, you can even get a custom-sized solution that is tailored to your exact needs.
Why Use Plastic Pallets?
So, why use plastic pallets? These solutions can transform your logistics processes and make them run much more smoothly, efficiently and quickly. With unparalleled strength and durability to last for years to come, you can save money over time and have a solution you can rely on. On top of this, they are extremely hygienic to give you high levels of cleanliness to prevent contamination and are very easy to clean after each use. Durable plastic pallets are also low maintenance, as you can instantly use them and don’t have to do anything to them to maintain their incredible working condition. Your staff can be safe from accidents at all times since they aren’t made from a natural material and are much lighter to lift manually, reducing injuries that can occur with heavy wooden pallets. These innovative solutions help your business save money in the long run and meet sustainability initiatives due to being able to recycle them after their service life.
Buy Inka’s Range of Durable Plastic Pallets
Browse our varied range of durable plastic pallets to find the perfect solution for your needs. From heavy duty plastic pallets to lightweight options and even recycled pallets that are made from fully recycled materials, you can rely on us to provide you with strong, sturdy and long-lasting pallets that are tailored to your business.