What types of plastics are used to make recycled plastic pallets?

Have you ever wondered what kind of plastic is used in recycled plastic pallets?

Approximately 90% of the pallets manufactured today are made with recycled plastics. The blends are all different. Most are HDPE, while others use post-industrial scrap which may include rubber, polypropylene and even silicates. Ground up car bumpers are used in one of our pallet lines. While another line uses fiberglass in the manufacturing process.

Recycled plastic bottles like these are on their way to becoming plastic pallets.

When you think of a plastic pallet do you think about milk jugs and laundry detergent bottles?

Probably not… However several years ago, I toured a plastic pallet manufacturer in Canada and this company had truckloads of plastic bottles and containers that they used to create recycled plastic pallets. The process was very interesting:

1. The bottles and containers were dumped into a hopper
2. The hopper cut the containers into little pieces of plastic confetti  
3. The plastic flakes were fed into a giant washer that cleaned them
4. The plastic went from the washer through a dryer 
5. The flakes were stored in bulk containers until it was needed for the manufacturing process

The whole line was so efficient. Plastic pallets are just one example of what can be made by recycled plastic. Imagine what our landfills would look like if we didn't recycle!  

Thanks to recycling, we can offer a diverse line of quality plastic pallets for every application. Recycling is just one way we help businesses shrink environmental impact when using pallets.

Does your company benefit from recycling? If so, please leave us a message below and tell us how. 

Post by: Penny Peirce, Sales Representative
Use of Bales of Crushed PET Bottles by Matthewdikmans licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.