Used plastic pallets vs wood
Used plastic pallets against wood: wood costs the least up front, while plastic is easier to sanitise, lighter than wood and splinter free, often lasting 100 trips or more. Plastic can cost about ten times as much new and is hard to repair.
- Wood
- Least up front
- Plastic
- Easier to sanitise, splinter free
- Plastic new vs hardwood
- Roughly 10 times
- Export
- Plastic skips ISPM 15
A plain comparison
| Point | Wood | Used plastic |
|---|---|---|
| Up-front cost | Lowest | Used narrows the gap with new plastic |
| Weight | A typical GMA wood pallet weighs about 37 lb | About 3 to 15 lb when light, up to 300 lb when heavy |
| Hygiene | Splinters, absorbs moisture | Easier to sanitise, splinter free |
| Life | Repaired board by board | Often 100 trips or more |
| Repair | Easy | Hard; welds and swapped parts |
| Export | ISPM 15 treatment and mark | Exempt |
| Fire | Treated as wood in sprinkler design | Unlisted plastic can raise the commodity class |
Where used plastic wins
Used plastic wins where hygiene, weight, export or repeated reuse matter, and where a pallet will go round a loop many times. Food and beverage, pharma, export and closed-loop users are all in that group. Used lowers the penalty of plastic's higher first cost.
Where wood still wins
Wood wins on cost, on ease of repair and on fire code treatment. If the pallet is a single-trip, a cheap wood pallet with an ISPM 15 mark may be all a load needs. If the building's sprinklers were designed for wood and you have unlisted plastic, speak to the building's engineer first.
- One-way domestic loads
- Heavy repair culture
- Buildings designed around wood
Plastic and wood on the same floor
Plastic pallets are easier to sanitise, do not splinter and do not need ISPM 15 treatment for export. Wood is lighter on the purse for one-way jobs and easy to repair in a yard. A used plastic lot narrows the cost gap, and the right choice depends on how often the pallet will be reused and what it will carry. A floor with both should keep them in separate stacks.
Weight, moisture and cleanliness
Wood absorbs moisture and can carry mould or pests; plastic does not. A wood pallet is lighter than many plastic ones, and a wet one is heavier than it looks. Plastic is easier to wash but may slide on a slick floor. For a facility with a wash-down routine, a plastic pallet fits the routine; for a one-way truck run where the pallet is lost, wood often suits the budget.
Safe handling at the stack
- Lift with the tines fully under the load and tilt back slightly before travelling.
- Never climb a stack, and never stand beside one while it is being moved.
- Take a damaged pallet out of service at once and tag it, so nobody reloads it.
- Keep stack heights even and edges square, since a leaning stack feeds on itself.
- Match tine length to the pallet, because short tines can crack the underside of a deck.
Training the dock crew
- Show new staff three pallets: one acceptable, one marginal, one rejected.
- Agree on words for faults, such as crack, gouge, bow and dish, and use them.
- Tell people to stop and ask when a pallet carries any mark they do not recognise.
- Remind drivers to enter pockets squarely, since angled entry splits the pocket wall.
- Walk the dock together once a month and compare notes.
Walk-around checklist
The same four stops for every lot, in order. Tick each as you go.
- 1Deck: plastic: flat, no splinters
- 2Corners: plastic: gouges only on the surface
- 3Runners: plastic: runners whole
- 4Fork pockets: plastic: pockets open
- Fire listing checked if stored indoors in bulk
Words used on this page
- One-way pallet
- A cheaper pallet shipped with the load and not expected back.
- Commodity classification
- Sprinkler design class of stored goods; an unlisted plastic pallet can raise it.
- Fork pocket
- Opening in the pallet where the forks go.
- ISPM 15
- The international standard for treating wood packaging against pests. Plastic pallets are outside it.
- Closed loop
- Pallets that travel between known sites and come back, so they are never lost to a downstream user.
What the sources say
- The International Fire Code permits pallets listed and labeled under FM 4996 or UL 2335 to be treated as wood pallets for sprinkler design. iccsafe.org
- Plastic pallets weigh about 3 to 15 lb when light and up to 300 lb when heavy; a typical GMA wood pallet weighs about 37 lb. en.wikipedia.org
- Plastic pallets are often described as lasting 100 trips or more, and can cost roughly 10 times as much as hardwood pallets. en.wikipedia.org
- Steel, aluminum, plastic and engineered-wood pallets are exempt from ISPM 15; wood must reach a core temperature of 56 C for at least 30 minutes for heat treatment. en.wikipedia.org
How a request works
- Pick the footprint, then the grade you can live with.
- Say what the pallets will carry and how many you need.
- Read the written lot description that comes back.
- Agree the lot before anything moves.
The four grades, in a line each
- Like new. A few trips only. Clean, no cracks, no missing parts, deck and runners flat.
- Used and clean. Many trips, scuffs and colour variation, but whole and usable for general-purpose or closed-loop work.
- Repaired. A cracked or chipped part welded or swapped. Some designs use snap-lock parts for repair.
- Mixed lot. Mixed makers, colours and sizes sold by the truckload, sorted by footprint.
Questions people ask
Which is better, plastic or wood?
Wood costs the least up front. Plastic is easier to sanitise, lighter than wood and splinter free, often lasting 100 trips or more, but it can cost about ten times as much and is hard to repair.
Do wood pallets need ISPM 15?
Wood packaging material entering the US must be treated and certified per ISPM 15.
Do you sell wood?
No. This desk is plastic only.
Ask for a lot
Pick a footprint and a grade. The reply describes a matched lot in writing.