Plastic pallets are rigid structures that provide mechanical stability to a bulk quantity of goods during handling to preserve their quality. Handling includes all activities related to lifting, moving from one point to another, stacking, product storage, and long-distance transportation by land or sea. To facilitate the mobility of goods, plastic pallets are designed to be moveable by equipment such as forklifts, pallet jacks, and front loaders.
Generally, pallets can be made from materials such as metal, plastics, wood, and paper. Plastic pallets have many advantages over other materials, such as being lightweight, hygienic, and cost-effective. There are several plastic pallet designs a company may choose from depending on their needs. Plastic pallets can be seen in warehouses, factories, stores, and shipping companies. Nevertheless, all types of pallets remain an important tool in the logistics and supply chain industry.
Plastic pallets have standardized sizes in compliance with the regulations imposed by governing organizations in a certain region. Standardized pallet sizes were made to eliminate wasted time and inconveniences in transferring goods to a particular region. Pallets constructed from other material types are also covered by such regulations.

There are several advantages plastic pallets offer to the supply chain:

Plastic pallets are resistant to microbial growth and pest infestation

This is one of the most important features of plastic pallets in the handling of food, beverage, and pharmaceutical products. Because of its non-porous structure and moisture resistance, plastic pallets reduce the severity of microbial and pathogen growth that can degrade the quality of goods and cause harm to human health.
Plastic pallets are inhospitable to pests and other harmful organisms.

Plastic pallets are exempted from ISPM No. 15

Plastic pallets are exempted from the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15, or the "Regulation of wood packaging material in international trade (ISPM-15)." It is a set of measures created by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) aimed to mitigate the introduction and spread of invasive species (e.g., bugs, beetles, and pathogens) through the shipment of insufficiently processed and contaminated wood.
Wooden pallets, as well as other packaging materials like crates and dunnage, are affected by ISPM-15 and are required to undergo the approved treatment process stated in the regulation. Treatment of wooden pallets is supervised by the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of the importing and exporting countries. An IPPC marking (as shown below) is issued to the individual wooden pallets as an identification of their compliance.

Being exempt from this regulation, plastic pallets are not required to undergo such treatments and inspections when entering international ports.

Plastic pallets have excellent contamination, odor, and corrosion resistance

The integrity of plastic pallets remains unaffected when they are exposed to spills, contamination, and moisture. They do not erode easily. Once dirty or contaminated, plastic pallets are easy to clean and sanitize; this prolongs their service life. Hence, plastic pallets are suitable for handling drums and containers containing acids, fuels, solvents, raw meat, dairy products, etc.

Plastic pallets are lightweight

Compared to wooden and metal pallets, plastic pallets are easy to handle and move from one point to another because they weigh less. Weight is a major concern during shipping, especially for airfreight shipments. Plastic pallets incur fewer transportation costs in all modes of transportation. They also induce less wear to the shipping vehicles‘ engines in the long run.

Plastic pallets are durable

Plastic pallets are usually constructed in one solid piece. They have seamless connections between their components because they are produced through the molding process. Their seamless connections eliminate the weak spots present in pallets with mechanical fasteners (e.g., screws, nails) to assemble the pallet. This makes the pallet durable, and it consequently has a long service life.

Plastic pallets are reusable and have a long service life

Plastic pallets last longer than wooden pallets. They can be reused multiple times in the supply chain. They can endure many shipping cycles or long service times in stores, factories, and warehouses before they wear out.

Plastic pallets are recyclable

The raw, virgin plastic resins used to manufacture a plastic pallet are mixed with portions of recycled plastics. This is feasible with thermoplastics through another re-molding process. This lowers the production cost and reduces the carbon footprint of the plastic pallet. However, plastic pallets made from 100% virgin plastics have superior characteristics and performance.

Sustainability and the Circular Economy

A major issue that all companies are confronting in the modern economy and their business practices is sustainability and protection of the environment. Plastic pallets are an ideal solution since they can be designed, manufactured, put to use, end their useful life, and be recycled to raw material, which is used to produce more pallets.
The use of plastic pallets and their ability to be reprocessed and repurposed makes them the ideal tool for shipping and storage as well as a solution to meeting the needs of sustainability.

One of the focuses of any business or manufacturing operation is control, maintenance, and knowledge of their inventory. Bad choices, inaccurate counts, and poor organization can be costly errors and affect the bottom line. Well aware of the need to monitor and oversee inventory, pallet manufacturers have developed various types of technological advancements that can be attached to pallets for better inventory tracking and include GPS, Io T, and RFID, each of which enhances pallets and makes them more than just a flat piece of plastic to store materials.