Recycling Plastic Pallets Beyond Disposal

It may surprise you to learn that there are currently more than 350 million plastic pallets in use worldwide—each one having the capacity to outlast its hardwood equivalent by almost ten years. However, these sturdy pallets frequently face the grim prospect of being disposed of in a landfill, where they may remain for years and exacerbate the expanding plastic waste crisis.

Recycling Plastic Pallets Beyond Disposal

In order to stop this practice, recycling plastic pallets is both a vital logistical need and an important environmental tactic. This article examines the revolutionary advantages of recycling plastic pallets, showing how it lowers carbon emissions, creates jobs, and conserves natural resources.

The Advantages Of Recycling Plastic Pallets

Because of their strength and versatility, plastic pallets are becoming more and more preferred over traditional wood equivalents in the ever-changing world of supply chains. When transporting oddly shaped items over long distances, such as intercontinental shipments, such as bottles, kegs, or even large machinery, pallets come in handy. Recycling these plastic carriers as they ultimately wear out is not only advantageous but also required for a sustainable operation.

Plastic Pallet Recycling: Why Do It?

Recycling plastic pallets has several advantages for the environment.

  • Reducing Waste in Landfills: While plastic pallets are sturdy, their decomposition in landfills might take millennia. Recycling contributes to reducing this persistent trash footprint.
  • Preservation of Resources: Plastic pallets derived from petroleum have an adverse effect on the depletion of resources. Recycling them reduces the need for them.
  • Emissions Reduction: Greenhouse gas emissions occur during the manufacture and disposal of plastic. We can drastically reduce these emissions by recycling.
  • Energy Savings: Recycling plastic uses less energy than creating new goods from the ground up.
  • Provide Green Jobs: Reprocessors and recycling companies employ trained personnel to handle leftover plastic pallets in preparation for recycling.
  • Feedstock for producers: In order to produce new items at a lower cost than virgin resin, domestic producers require plastic regrind.

Recyclability And Lifecycle

Although plastic pallets last a long time, they do break eventually. Fortunately, the majority of pallets are recyclable due to their HDPE or PP construction. They must first be converted into regrind material in order to be consumed by a domestic end user. After being cleaned and processed, the material will be made into pellets or new items. This cycle makes use of a nationwide network of producers, brokers, recyclers, and processors who work together to open the door for these materials to rejoin the production cycle. Together, these businesses are reducing needless waste and fostering resource efficiency.

FAQs Regarding Recycling Plastic Pallets

The majority are recyclable if they don’t have fiberglass or metal reinforcing. Nevertheless, certain pallets used by companies such as USPS, MillerCoors, and iGPS contain elements that make recycling more difficult:

Pallets made by MillerCoors and iGPS contain fiberglass or metal rods that might harm recycling equipment, making them unsuitable for recycling.

USPS Postal Pallets: Despite being composed of recyclable materials, these pallets belong to the US Postal Service and must be returned because it is against the law to destroy them.

MillerCoors Beer Pallets: Designed to support larger loads, these pallets are typically reinforced with fiberglass or aluminum and are not suitable for recycling.

Labor is the primary expense. For shipping, pallets need to be stacked neatly and fastened to the bottom pallet. When a recycler picks up a full trailer load of plastic pallets for recycling, they frequently pay the freight costs.

There’s no need for a thorough cleaning. The secret is to separate any pallets that aren’t recyclable and stack the pallets evenly, nesting like ones together. Pallets should not move while in transit if uniform stacks are fastened with at least one strap. Pallets that have spilled make for a labor-and time-intensive chore when emptying a trailer.

Pallets made of plastic are combined at a recycling plant that has granulators, shredders, and other machinery. Before they are moved farther down the supply chain for processing, they are cleaned, sorted, and their size decreased. Palletized plastic pallet regrind that is homogeneous and clean can be utilized to create new goods, such pallets.

Case Study: The Effects of Scrap Management on Recycling Plastic Pallets

Leading the way in the recycling of plastic pallets, Scrap Management helps businesses in a range of industries get rid of their old plastic pallets in an environmentally friendly way. Through its extensive nationwide network of consolidation centers, recyclers, pelletizers, and end consumers, Scrap Management is essential in converting damaged and useless plastic pallets into new, valuable items that are produced domestically.

Scrap Management saved nearly two million pounds of plastic pallets from landfills in only the last year. In addition to generating hundreds of green jobs, this initiative had a major positive impact on the environment:

Emissions of Carbon: Reusing these pallets prevented hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon emissions, which is the same as taking tens of thousands of cars off the road for a year.

Water Conservation: An estimated 11.5 million gallons of water, or more than 17 Olympic-sized swimming pools, were saved by opting to recycle.

Energy Conservation: Approximately 11.5 million kWh of electricity were saved during the recycling process. That’s enough energy to power almost 1,000 households in the United States for a whole year.

Impact on Employment and the Economy

Green Jobs: A variety of job opportunities were facilitated by the process, ranging from product manufacture and recycling plant operations to logistics and transportation. This covers both indirect roles in auxiliary industries and services as well as direct jobs handling and processing the materials.

Economic Activity: This recycling program boosts local economies through both direct and indirect economic activity, having an impact that goes beyond direct employment. These consist of spending by staff members, money made from the sale of recycled materials, and wider economic gains brought about by better local economic circumstances.

In summary

For companies that use plastic pallets frequently, recycling them is not just a practical requirement but also a conscientious environmental practice. The procedure saves energy, lessens greenhouse gas emissions, and conserves resources. Starting this recycling journey encourages a circular economy and aids environmental sustainability.

Are you prepared to recycle your plastic pallets? Do you require a price for your supplies? To arrange a pick-up or to find out more about our services, click this link.

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