5 Most Popular Colors for Plastic Pallets

If you read my last post, 6 Benefits of Using Plastic Pallets in Colors, you already know that black is the most popular color for plastic pallets.

​In this post, we'll take a look at the top five popular plastic pallet colors, examples of how each color is used and why color costs more than black.

Used plastic pallets offer big savings on yellow plastic pallets and other popular colors.

Popular Colors in Plastic Pallets

Plastic pallets can be made in nearly any color. In addition to custom colors for a special promotion or matching a company's brand, many manufacturers offer a set of popular standard colors. Interestingly, there are no specific color rules to follow. Most pallet color decisions come down to a company's own policies or processes.

Here are the plastic pallet colors you'll most likely see:
  

1. Black Plastic Pallets
   Most black pallets are made from a blend of multi-colored recycled content. If you've ever dyed hard boiled eggs, you know that mixing too many colors gets you speckled mud. It's similar with pallet material. To get a more consistent appearance, manufacturers add pigment. Black and gray are the easiest colors to achieve in this case. That's why you'll see more black plastic pallets than any other color.
     
2. Blue Plastic Pallets
   After black, blue plastic pallets are the second most popular color. Blue and FDA often go together but that came about by convention more than anything else. FDA plastic pallets do not have to be blue. Instead, the focus is on 100% virgin material approved to meet guidelines set by the FDA or USDA for direct contact with food or pharmaceuticals.
     
3. Green Plastic Pallets
   The food industry comes the closest to setting standards for color. These color "rules" mostly apply to plastic cutting boards, but can cross over to pallets. For example, green means produce. Made from virgin material, green pallets (or any other color) typically have minimum purchase requirements in truckload quantities. If you are looking for smaller quantities, your best option may be to look at green plastic pallets in used condition. 
    
4. Red Plastic Pallets
   Some customers place hazardous or flammable materials on red pallets. The food industry uses red to designate raw meat. Plastic Euro pallets can also be found in a variety of colors including red. Again, truckload quantities typically apply for new pallet purchases. Used Euro pallets in red can be a cost-effective way to buy in LTL quantities.
      
5. Yellow Plastic Pallets
   If you really want your pallets to stand out, yellow makes a bold statement (or try orange). Getting a plastic pallet color just right requires true virgin material, quality colorant and a clean assembly line. This makes a yellow pallet (and other colors) cost more. If price is a factor, give used yellow plastic pallets a look for cost savings.

Why You'll Pay More for Color

The short answer to the cost question is material. Most black pallets are made from post-industrial recycled HDPE or PP. Recycled material just costs less.

In contrast, making plastic pallets in a specific color requires a material that plays nice with dye. Remember that hard boiled egg? A clean white shell will give the best dye results. In plastic pallets, a clean and consistent virgin material makes it easier to mix in pigment for that perfect shade of blue, red, green, yellow and more.

Not only does the virgin material cost more, but there is more labor involved. Assembly lines often stop production to clean and prepare equipment to run the new color. It costs a lot of money to stop assembly lines so that's why minimum truckload quantities are sometimes required.

What colors do you use? Tell us about how you use color in the comments below or ask us about color for plastic pallets.

Post by: Mike Cunneen, Director of Sales & Marketing