The UK construction industry uses 18m wood pallets every year. Most of these are only used once. This firm has a solution
An innovation targeting the wasting of pallets in construction has won support from some of the sector’s key players.
Some 18m wooden pallets – requiring a total 6,000 acres of forestry – are manufactured for use by the UK’s building industry each year. But estimates suggest 90 per cent are used only once and make up a tenth of the sector’s waste stream.
Now, The Pallet LOOP – a joint venture between leading pallet manufacturer Scott Group and brothers Paul and Ryan Lewis – aims to target that waste and help the construction sector to meet green targets set by the UK government.
The unique green pallets used in the initiative are twice as strong than traditional designs. Building material manufacturers will pay a deposit to use LOOP pallets, with the fee moving through the supply chain to builders’ merchants and, finally, to end users.
Deposits can be redeemed in full after pallets have been collected. They are then recirculated back into supply chain.
The makers of the pallets say they can cut the construction industry’s carbon footprint by 40 per cent
According to The Pallet LOOP, widespread adoption of their system in the sector would reduce CO2 emissions by 40% and timber use by three-quarters.
Many large firms, including Wilmott, BAM Construction, and the Morgan Sindall Group have signed a charter that commits them to evaluating how they can use The PalletLOOP to reduce waste.
Image: The Pallet LOOP
