Bradford and Tarmac launch returnable pallet scheme to tackle construction industry emissions

23 Nov 2022 --- Bradfords Building Supplies has taken its first delivery of Tarmac bagged cement loaded on Pallet Loop pallets into its Glastonbury, UK-based branch, marking the first end-to-end trial of a new circular economy pallet reuse scheme for the UK construction sector.  

Bradfords and Tarmac are now trialing The Pallet Loop company’s “green” pallets to move goods between their businesses and out to a selected number of Bradfords customers across Somerset, UK. 

The Pallet Loop is designed to help the construction industry meet its net zero emissions target by 2050 and eliminate avoidable packaging waste from the building material supply chain. 

“The Pallet Loop is the only circular economy pallet supplier to the UK construction sector. We are on a mission to transform the way building materials move throughout the construction industry,” Paul Lewis, founder of The Pallet Loop tells PackagingInsights. 

The Pallet Loop offers a range of 100% FSC pallets engineered for multiple uses.How it works 
The Pallet Loop offers a range of 100% FSC pallets designed to carry various weights and types of material and engineered for multiple uses. Easy to identify, the pallets all follow the same design standards, making them safer to move, manage and stack while helping to maximize lorry distribution capacity. 

The Pallet Loop uses a returnable pallet charge to incentivize 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 immediately. 

The companies assert that this move will strongly reduce pallet production’s burden on forests and the environment. Switching to The Pallet Loop also has the potential to save the sector significant amounts of money on waste costs. 

Green pallets
The company’s innovative supply chain solution incentivises and enables the recovery, repair and re-use of pallets in the UK construction sector – helping to accelerate the elimination of avoidable waste, repurpose pallets and continuously improve safety, asserts Lewis. 

“Every year, more than 18 million pallets are manufactured and distributed throughout the UK construction industry – but less than 10% are reused. Most of these single-use pallets make one journey through the supply chain and are then skipped or scrapped.”

To create these pallets, an estimated 6,000 acres of forestry are harvested every year, with a further 236,000 acres grown to cater to future demand. “Our green pallets don’t just look different. They are different,” he adds. 

“Designed with durability in mind, our green Loop pallets can accommodate greater loads than standard pallets, which are – by and large – engineered to be used just once. Crucially our pallets can also be used over and over again,” explains Lewis. 

“We are 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 and 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,” concludes Giles Bradford, head of sustainability at Bradfords Building Supplies.

By Natalie Schwertheim 

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