The success story of the European Pallet Association e.V. (EPAL) continued in 2022. Following the milestone of producing more than 100 million new EPAL Euro pallets for the first time in a calendar year in 2021, EPAL has increased production to a new record of 109.05 million EPAL Euro pallets. This represents a growth of 7.55 %, or 7.65 million EPAL Euro pallets year-on-year.
Strong growth in EPAL Euro pallets and EPAL Box pallets production
Repair volumes for EPAL Euro pallets were almost exactly the same as the previous year (-0.33 %). After the significantly lower return of used EPAL Euro pallets in the first half of 2022 initially led to a decline in repair numbers, this was almost completely reversed in the second half of the 2022 by a positive development in repairs.
The production of EPAL Box pallets also developed positively. After significant growth of 66.7 % in 2021 to 288,000 EPAL Box pallets, production once again increased substantially in 2022 to 340,400 EPAL Box pallets (+18 %).
More than 650 million EPAL Euro pallets in circulation
The high quality of EPAL pallets is an extremely important factor in ensuring not only the safety of people and goods in logistics but also the long service life of EPAL Euro pallets. Various studies have shown this to be between six and ten years. Based on an average service life of seven years and production data from recent years, there are currently substantially more than 650 million EPAL Euro pallets available through the open EPAL pallet pool.
Resilience of the EPAL Euro pallet pool
The resilience of the EPAL Euro pallet pool was also one of the key success factors for EPAL in 2022. Following experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the production of EPAL Euro pallets proved to be an essential activity for logistics, every participant in the open EPAL pallet pool recognises that reliable availability of EPAL Euro pallets for industry and retail is the foundation of stable supply chains. Users from industry, retail and logistics can call on more than 500 EPAL licensees producing new EPAL pallets through the open EPAL pallet pool as well as more than 1,100 repair operations supplying users with used EPAL pallets.
As an international association, the European Pallet Association e.V. (EPAL) is responsible for organising the EPAL Euro pallet exchange pool. EPAL Euro pallets are the cornerstone of industrial and retail supply chains in Europe.
