plastic pallets

Everything You Wanted to Know about Plastic Pallets (but Never Got to Ask)

Posted on

We have written extensively about plastic pallets in this Knowledge Base section and elsewhere. Mostly, we shared client cases and helpful advice to help you get the most out of the plastic pallets purchased from Logistic Packaging.

In this article, we will cover all the salient aspects concerning these all-prevalent reusable packaging materials. As we like to state, the pallet revolutionized global trade by offering merchants a standard measurement for the calculation of storage and shipping fees.

What Is The Role of Plastic Pallets in a Company?

Plastic pallets are easy to load with products and handle with a forklift in the warehouse and loading bay area. They are the simplest and most efficient type of professional packaging for stacking products when you ship orders in order to optimize shipping costs.

Standard sized EURO and ISO plastic pallets are compatible with the most frequently used types of EURO containers, stack-nest containers and foldable and collapsible containers. This allows you to create a compact and stable stack of products and top it with a pallet lid, creating a solid packing unit.

Logistic Packaging produces both EURO plastic pallets (1200 x 800 mm) and ISO plastic pallets (1200 x 1000 mm) but also atypical footprints, according to the client’s requirements: 1200 x 900 mm, 1020 x 1220 mm, 1100 x 1100 mm, 1140 x 760 mm, etc.

Pallets are also very convenient for storing merchandize on racking systems built in the warehouse. In fact, the palet is the single packaging material that can be used from the moment a product gets out of the assembly line and until it reaches the shelves in retail store.

A Single Need with Various Applications

So, a simple conclusion is that almost all the industries need plastic pallets. At a short glance, plastic pallets are used by:

  • Automotive industry
  • Pharmaceutical and chemicals industry
  • Farming and agriculture
  • Food production
  • Electronics
  • Distribution and supply chain industry
  • Textiles and fashion industry
  • Cosmetics industry
  • Courier and postal services.

Given the wide range of applications, one thing is certain: one type of pallet cannot suit all the specific needs of each industry. This is why this basic range of professional packaging materials is also one of the most diversified.

Which takes us to the next important section of our article:

Types of Pallets

There are many ways of categorizing plastic pallets and we decided to present each of them with sufficient detail to help you understand what kind of plastic pallets your company needs.

 1. By Design

In this category, we have two sub-categories. Pallets can be categorized by their type of surface in:

Open deck plastic pallets are used for lighter applications, but they can still withstand impressive weights of up to 3000 kg. Some open deck plastic pallets are especially made for export – they are lighter and less expensive, so they can easily replace one-way wooden pallets.

Closed deck plastic pallets are used for heavy duty applications. The sturdiest models have a reinforced base and metallic tubes in the skids. These types of pallets can withstand loads of up to 7000 kg.

Another way of categorizing pallets by design depends on how they stand one on top of the other:

  • Stackable – usually with skids
  • Nestable – generally with feet.

Nestable plastic pallets are an ideal choice for companies that need to optimize their storage space and shipping costs as much as possible.

 2. By Industry Use

Here, we can see how the requirements of each industry shaped pallets and adapted the basic model to fit their needs:

  • ESD plastic pallets  – these pallets are used in the electronics and automotive industries and are made of special materials that prevent electrostatic shocks;
  • Hygiene/cleanroom pallets – used in the pharma and food industries, these plastic pallets have a very simple design, with smooth surfaces, and a closed deck, to prevent the accumulation of dirt and dust and to make them easy to clean and sanitize;
  • Retail/display pallets – used for displaying products in stores, these pallets (also known as semi-pallets) are smaller and have a polished design to enhance the appeal of the products.

 3. By Raw Materials

Plastic pallets can be made of:

  • Virgin materials (newly produced);
  • Recycled materials.

In terms of the materials themselves, the pallets are manufactured from:

  • High density polypropylene (HDPE);
  • Polypropylene co-polymer (PPC);
  • Polypropylene (PP).

Whichever option you choose, it is important to know that all the plastic pallets produced by Logistic Packaging are 100% recyclable at the end of their useful life.

The team of experts at Logistic Packaging is ready to help you select the plastic pallets that are best suited to your specific needs. Send us an email or schedule a live Skype video call with our consultants!