The National Association of Pallet Distributors (NAPD), a British trade association of pallet recyclers, has endorsed a new pallet testing standard.
The new testing standard, EN ISO 8611-1, is a revision of a 1989 standard, which the British pallet industry and pallet users considered too rigorous because it disqualified many adequate pallet designs, according to the NAPD.
The new standard reduced certain test load requirements. For example, the common nine-block 1000×1200 pallet now is required to sustain 24% less applied load during testing.
The new standard complements the existing European standard for pallet repair, the NAPD noted. “Now the entire European pallet industry – new and used – has an effective measurement of quality,” the association said in a statement.
Recycled pallets that are properly maintained will have no difficulty meeting the new European requirements, said NAPD secretary Paul Tait.
