Pallets that never say die

Paul Clinton

COSTA MESA -- To move his pottery jars from the city to

home-improvement stores all over the country, Alex Dean uses blue CHEP

pallets because they’re more durable, cost less and don’t end up in

landfills.

As an added benefit, the glazed, colorful flower pots manufactured by

Dean’s company, Costa Mesa-based David Brooks Co., sometimes match the

pallets.

“It is now easier to load and ship our product, and our flower pots

look great on the CHEP pallet,” said Dean, the company’s president. “We

appreciate the reduced impact CHEP pallets have on the waste stream

[heading into landfills].”

CHEP, an Australian company with a local depot in Costa Mesa, has

developed a reputation as an environmentally conscious company. Instead

of sending its wooden pallets to landfills to add to the nation’s waste

pile, CHEP recycles them. Even when the pallets become damaged, they are

repaired at one of the depots.

The company runs more than 147 million pallets and 29 million

containers in 38 countries.

In Costa Mesa, between 10 million and 12 million pallets flow through

the depot per year.

“They’re always being recycled,” CHEP spokeswoman Deb Spicer said, of

the distinctive blue wooden pallets. “They’re not disposed into the

system.”

CHEP pallets circulate through the system in a unique way -- heading

from the pallet factory to the manufacturer to the distribution warehouse

to the depot.

Manufacturers such as David Brooks, which was founded in 1979, don’t

buy the pallets. They rent them from CHEP to ship their goods, relieving

manufacturers of the responsibility for disposing of the pallets when

they reach the end of their useful life.

CHEP pallets are made from a more durable, heavier wood than the white

wood versions also in use.

CHEP also circulates produce containers out of its Costa Mesa branch

as a way to replace the corrugated boxes used to transport produce.

The boxes are the No. 1 contributor to the waste that reaches

landfills, at 38%. Old pallets come in at seventh on the list, making up

a 5.9% slice of the pie.