Wooden Vs Plastic Pallets - Can You Handle the Truth?

So you want the truth? In my best "Jack" voice, "Are you sure you can handle the truth?" Well, I'm glad we got that off our chests, because it is a subject, like so many others, ultimately fueled by money. I ask you to keep an open mind, and let me start by being directly regarding my perspective as an owner of a manufacturing of pallets. Our society has, for nearly 30 years, focused almost exclusively on wooden pallets. Only recently we worked on a very small scale with plastic pallets.

My brother and I are used to thinking rather than plastic vs. wood pallets, as most people wonder about paper or plastic bags to the grocery store line. What is the best? Which is more "green?" What is the future? After spending several hours each week focused on coming up with the strategy of the trajectory of our company forward in a market increasingly difficult, the answers to the question to know what is the best, plastic pallets or wooden crates, dunnage, still merit serious examination to say the least. You might be surprised that the conclusions were reached regarding the materials used in packaging for decades. Decide for yourself! We certainly - hey, what do you expect, we are in the business of pallets.

When it comes to making a decision on what is best for your organization - plastic vs. wood packaging - there are important categories that call for specific questions. The four remain:

Fire safety 1)
2) sustainability
3) Strength / Flexibility / Convenience
4) Cost / Price

Let's take these one are we on?

1. Fire safety

This has been in the news lately as certain it was some back and forth between supporters of both sides of the issue, and of course fire commissioners are caught in the middle and not with the pallet companies only, but also all companies worldwide that store large quantities of packaging in warehouses. The first reaction is typically that the wood is flammable after all we use it to fire and stay warm in our homes, camping, and even create pellets for use as fuel in wood burning ovens.