Know Both The Sides To Choose The Right 

Usage of pallets as an integral component in the supply chain is unquestionable, but what is questionable or rather a difficult choice is which ones to buy- wood pallets or plastic ones?

As per the market study, wooden pallets hold about 70% of the market share in the pallet industry thereby making it the obvious choice for most of the manufacturers for their supply chain. The fact is that each type of pallet has its own set of advantages & disadvantages.

Wooden pallets

Advantages:

Cost effective: Wooden pallet prices are three times cheaper than plastic pallets, but that should not deter you from exploring plastic ones. 

Load bearing capacity: They can hold a lot more weight and can be further strengthened and built to support heavier weights.

Reusable, Recyclable & Repairable: Buy wooden pallets as they can be used multiple times and for various purposes. In case it sustains damage, it can be repaired. When a wooden pallet is beyond repairs, it can be ground up into mulch or garden furniture or a pet bedding, until it finally decomposes and returns to the earth.

Eco-friendly/Environmental: Wooden pallet price is less and it is also eco-friendly. Contrary to the common belief that “wooden pallets facilitate deforestation”, the reality is trees aren’t felled specifically to make pallets, forests are actively managed, and they are only harvested to make building materials and furniture. Pallets are created out of their leftover lumber. The wood for pallets is harvested from renewable and sustainable forests. It has a zero carbon footprint. 

Flexibility in design: The flexibility in designing of a wooden pallet makes it a popular choice amongst the wooden pallet manufacturers to support heavyweights of their product without significant cost addition. On the contrary, a plastic pallet is way expensive if the customization is needed. The dye cast of plastic pallets is capital intensive and the production is restricted to a particular design. 

Disadvantages:

Wooden pallets are heavier than plastic pallets.

Since wood is a cellulose material, it can become food for insects and molds.  

Wooden pallets can splinter & damage the product. Though this happens only when the pallets are poorly constructed, carrying the wrong load for the pallet configuration or when the pallet is improperly loaded, unloaded and moved. 

 

Plastic Pallets

Advantages:

Plastic pallets are generally lighter than wooden pallets, although it greatly depends on what kind of plastic is used. 

It is easier to clean and sterilize plastic pallets since it is nonporous. It cannot be devoured by insects or fungi. 

It is weather resistant, though only up to a point.

Disadvantages: 

Plastic pallets can’t be repaired as easily as wooden pallets. And there isn’t much that one can do to fix them. Most plastic pallets have lesser strength and usually hold up to 700 kgs. 

Plastic pallets are 3-5 times costlier than their wooden counterparts.

Plastic pallet price is 3 times more than wooden pallet price. 

The dye casts have to be made every time a new pallet is designed. This becomes expensive as well as time consuming.

More specifically plastic pallets are made from HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE (HDPE) which is created from petroleum or natural gas and that brings up a point about sustainability. Plastic pallets are not particularly eco friendly.

High loss to cost ratio: In case you have an open-loop shipping system, the loss of an expensive pallet due to no-return policy or forwarding to other businesses might make you look for a better option. 

Hope this article can help you decide the right pallet type for you!