EPAL Reports Record Pallet Repair Figures

EPAL UK and Ireland has reported an uplift in the number of pallet repairs carried out across its network, as customers seek to mitigate the impact of growing supply chain costs.

The organisation, which administers the EPAL system for the UK and Ireland region, said more than 100,000 pallet repairs took place for the first time during 2022, as businesses increased pallet reuse for reasons including sustainability and reducing costs.

Production of new EPAL pallets also grew year-on-year in the UK market in every month of 2022 to a total of 1 million across the year, a record for the country. In Ireland, production remained largely stable, despite challenging conditions that affected availability of timber at times during the year.

Felicity Smith, National Secretary for EPAL UK & Ireland, said: “We are really pleased to see reuse of EPAL pallets going up for another year to hit these record levels. Driven by increasing cost pressures, as well as the increasing legislative and customer demands on sustainability, more supply chains are looking to recondition, repair and reuse their pallets. The EPAL network of licensed repairers is expanding, which is making it easier for them to do this.

“This, alongside the growth we saw in the production of EPAL pallets during 2022, is further indication that more customers are asking their suppliers to use EPAL to make their supply chains more efficient, sustainable, and ISPM 15-compliant.”

Administering some 650 million EPAL Euro pallets and 2 million box pallets internationally, EPAL is the world’s largest open exchange pool.