MOST EVERY TRADE or ofession has its share of :owboys"
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and "pirates", id the pallet recycling isiness is no exception. 'fortunately, as with other ides, a few pirate operators nd to give the vast majority legitimate pallet repairers d collectors a bad name. They often rely on drivers Dpping off pallets to them lich are, effectively, stolen, cause they require little or no mir before being sold and, ieed, often have on them the ginal owner's name which is refully removed.
The .average buying-in price these pallets is around 50p d they are then resold for out £2.50, giving a 400 per nt profit! In addition, repairs
• i carried out using any yterial that comes to hand — a tentially dangerous situation if the quality of the material is not up to the standard of the original.
Told where to go CM tried, unsuccessfully, to talk to two of these dubious repairers. The first number we called would not even admit to being in the pallet business, while the second told us where to go, in no uncertain terms!
However, we were able to talk to a legitimate organisation, Pallet Recovery Services Ltd, with its head office at Brighton Road, Crawley, Sussex.
Pallet Recovery Services Ltd, is the only company to provide a repair and collection service on a nationwide basis. Since 1969, it has built up such a large clientele, that, now, more than a million pallets are handled every year.
rQuick, reliable The aim is not to buy and sell pallets but to provide a quick, reliable collection service for the larger user. Pallet Recovery. Services are notified regularly, by the owner about the location of the pallets to be collected. Where the numbers do not warrant a regular vOt, these can be collected on request.
On arrival at one of the seven depots, each pallet is examined for damage, placed in th individual owner's pile an classified as either fit fo return, needing repair or beyon, repair and ready for scrapping.
For the collection service, th owner pays 50-60p per pallel plus repair and transportatiol from the depot, and can expec in excess of 80 per cent recover rate. With the help of the PR! library of users, all markei pallets are offered back to th, wner whether a participant of le scheme or not.
lp for resale
All unmarked pallets are, of ourse, put up for resale. Every ollection is covered by paperpork so that a statistical control an be kept of the number of the arious locations and the quanty in stock at individual depots t any time.
The great majority of pallets re still made from wood and us is likely to remain so, except there the cost of the steel or lastic types can be justified for pecific purposes.
About 30 per cent need some ?pair and all are returned to the riginal specification using the est materials from Portugal, candinavia and a small amount home-grown timber. Before is is carried out, however, the wner is notified of the number to be repaired and scrapped, and permission sought before proceeding.
A quick turnround will reduce stocks needed by the owner and, with regular inspection and attention, wooden pallets may be expected to last for about six years with considerate use.