Euro Pallet Benefits
European importers often ask American suppliers to ship their products on europallets.
Why is the euro pallet type so important to businesses in the European Union? This article addresses the six most important benefits of europallets and provides a good overview for companies trying to understand the euro pallet standard.
First the euro pallet type has a value in Europe even if it is used. Local pallet recyclers will buy back used euro pallets from companies who no longer have a use for them, because the pallet is designed for reuse.
Europallets are also widely known as the common standard for the European industry and flow seamlessly through supply chains there. Expensive or hazardous products like drugs, chemicals, medical equipment, and automobile parts are typically shipped in Europe on europallets and then processed in automated material handling systems that only accept the euro pallet type. Companies with such automated warehouses must pay significant costs and face delays in their supply chain when they are forced to trans-load goods from American pallet types on to the europallets.
Moreover, American stringer pallets often cause costly disposal fees for European importers because of European Union’s Packaging Waste Reduction Laws, which levy expensive disposal taxes on pallets that cannot be reused. Euro pallets are exchangeable and built to be repaired, and therefore are not subject to these taxes until they reach the end of their lifecycle.
Euro pallets are strictly regulated. The non-profit European Pallet Association (EPAL) regulates the construction and repair of Euro pallets worldwide, ensuring uniform quality standards for long-term, safe reuse.
The International Organization for Standardization also recognizes europallets as one of only six pallet standards in the world.
Lastly, real quality controlled and inspected euro pallets carry a number based marking system that allows users an easy way to pick out fake euro pallets and confirm if the europallets were manufactured by a licensed company. These measures help keep up the quality of all europallets found in the market. Companies caught manufacturing fake euro pallets or even shipping goods on falsely marked euro pallets are subject to severe criminal and civil prosecution in the European Union.
