Pallet LOOP has begun an end-to-end trial of its “circular economy pallet reuse scheme” for the UK construction sector.
Bradfords Building Supplies has taken its first delivery of Tarmac cement loaded on the green pallets at its Glastonbury branch.
Founded on the principles of recover, repair, reuse, The Pallet LOOP is designed to help the construction industry meet its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and eliminate avoidable packaging waste from the building material supply chain.
The company offers a range of 100% FSC pallets that have been designed to carry various weights and types of material and engineered to be used multiple times. The pallets all follow the same design standards, aiming to make them safer to move, manage and stack, while helping to maximise lorry distribution capacity.
The Pallet LOOP operates using a returnable pallet charge (RPC) that incentivises reuse. By attaching a value to the pallet, which is refunded at the point of return, The Pallet LOOP provides a financial motivation for individuals and companies to put pallets back into the LOOP, rather than skipping or scrapping them after just one use. This positive shift in behaviour is hoped to reduce the burden that pallet production currently places on the environment and our forests.
Giles Bradford, head of sustainability at Bradfords Building Supplies, said: “We see examples of both unsafe pallets and pallet waste every day across our sector. They’re a crucial enabler for the construction industry, but the evidence of stacks of pallets clogging merchant branches or being skipped on-site is only too apparent. It’s important for us to assess environmental sustainability at every stage of the supply chain. Trialling The Pallet LOOP is the latest step in our efforts to reduce our own environmental impact but looks to support a much wider benefit across the sector.
“We are delighted to be supporting the initiative and looking forward to seeing how the trial progresses. Developers and trades that end up in receipt of the distinctive LOOP pallets during the Bradfords/Tarmac trial should either return them to us on their next visit or look to load it onto a Bradfords vehicle the next time one visits their site, after which the refundable pallet charge will be credited.”
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