Recyclable pallets initiative The Pallet LOOP says it is manufacturing tens of thousands of its distinctive bright green, circular economy pallets in readiness for them entering the building materials supply chain from May. The news follows the announcement in early April that British Gypsum is to become the first building products manufacturer to transport its materials on the LOOP pallets.
The scheme had a false start in 2019, when it struggled to find customers willing to pay the deposit,1 but has been relaunched, and is under new ownership.
British Gypsum will start distributing its bagged plaster and accessories on The Pallet LOOP’s green coloured pallets in May; with products from its plasterboard range set to follow in July.
To build its pallet pool, The Pallet LOOP is working with fellow BSW Group member Scott Pallets, which has pallet production sites at strategic locations around the UK. Pallets are being produced at three sites – York, Burton, and Peterborough – and fitted with RFID tags, which will enable pallet tracking.
Ahead of its signature green pallets hitting the supply chain, The Pallet LOOP is encouraging all pallet recipients to sign up for its collections service by emailing: setmeup@thepalletloop.com. Signing up for pallet collections is simple and will enable registered companies to access a PayBack of up to £4 for every green pallet they put back in the LOOP. In parallel, The Pallet LOOP will be continuing its collection of white pallets, which is significantly cheaper than disposing of pallets via a wood skip. The Pallet LOOP’s white pallet collection service is already up and running nationwide with many large housebuilders and principal contractors already using the scheme.
Steve Ottaway, Operations Director at The Pallet LOOP, said: “We are now on the cusp of a major change in the way that building materials are delivered to merchants and building sites around the UK – and are grateful to British Gypsum for showing leadership and becoming the first adopter of our circular economy scheme. Over the last few years, we’ve been liaising with key players throughout UK construction to discuss the benefits of switching to a more sustainable pallet distribution model. From the outset, everyone agreed change was needed and that the current linear way of working is out of kilter with the industry’s net carbon zero and zero waste objective. Change is now definitely on its way, and we can’t wait to see our green, branded pallets reaching and being recovered from building sites, merchant yards and distribution centres nationwide.”
Scott Grant, Managing Director at Scott Pallets, said: “This is a huge step for the construction industry, and underlines the power of collaboration. By working together we can significantly reduce waste, save money and achieve our sustainability targets. British Gypsum have showcased a real commitment to drive positive change, and we are fully committed to maintaining the momentum. We have full confidence in the LOOP model, especially with the backing of Scott Pallets and the wider BSW Group, who are determined to realise the potential of the business.”
Registering for collections with The Pallet LOOP is easy, says the group. Companies interested in using the service and benefiting from the LOOP pallet PayBack of up to £4 per green pallet, should email: setmeup@thepalletloop.com to kick start the account creation process. Once companies are set up, arranging collections of both green and white pallets is easy, with two service levels available: a standard ten-day or a rapid 72-hour pick up service. Users of The Pallet LOOP will also receive access to a special reporting platform, where they can view and download information about the number of pallets returned and the money saved on collections versus disposal via a skip. The system also provides information about the amount of carbon saved and trees repurposed, which can be used in sustainability reporting.
To help customers understand the sign-up process, The Pallet LOOP has created a short onboarding video – that explains how to get in the LOOP in a series of simple steps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAAmrYk-2P0&t=1s
Notes
[1] https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/british-gypsum-commits-to-pallet-reuse-scheme.
