American companies usually have not heard of the euro pallet type and do not know that europallets are the most common industrial pallet standard in the European Union. Below are six different advantages that the euro pallet type delivers to companies in the European supply chain.



Most importantly, unlike American stringer pallets, used europallets are exchangeable in Europe and therefore have a value. When European companies no longer need their europallets, they can call their local pallet company who will pay them money based upon their condition and pick them up.

Europallets are also widely known as the common standard for the European industry and flow seamlessly through supply chains there. Expensive or hazardous products like drugs, chemicals, medical equipment, and automobile parts are typically shipped in Europe on europallets and then processed in automated material handling systems that only accept the euro pallet type. Companies with such automated warehouses must pay significant costs and face delays in their supply chain when they are forced to trans-load goods from American pallet types on to the europallets.

Moreover, American stringer pallets often cause costly disposal fees for European importers because of European Union's Packaging Waste Reduction Laws, which levy expensive disposal taxes on pallets that cannot be reused. Euro pallets are exchangeable and built to be repaired, and therefore are not subject to these taxes until they reach the end of their lifecycle.

The European Pallet Association, began in the early 1990s as the regulatory authority for the euro pallet standard. They work with third party inspection agencies to enforce strict quality control rules for manufacturers and repairers of europallets that they license on an individual basis.

Euro pallets are also one of only six pallet types recognized by the International Organization for Standardization.

Lastly, real quality controlled and inspected euro pallets carry a number based marking system that allows users an easy way to pick out fake euro pallets and confirm if the europallets were manufactured by a licensed company. These measures help keep up the quality of all europallets found in the market. Companies caught manufacturing fake euro pallets or even shipping goods on falsely marked euro pallets are subject to severe criminal and civil prosecution in the European Union.