Both pallet families have their natural use cases. Pricing them against each other on unit cost misses the operational realities. Here's the actual side-by-side.
Cost.
| Spec | Wood (used B-grade) | Plastic (sound used) |
|---|---|---|
| 48 × 40 GMA standard | $8 – 16 | $45 – 85 |
| Trips before retirement | 5 – 15 | 50 – 200 |
| Cost per trip | $0.80 – 3.20 | $0.30 – 1.70 |
| Procurement lead time | Same day local | 1 – 3 business days |
Plastic has roughly 10x the trip count of wood and roughly 5x the unit cost, so the cost-per-trip math often favors plastic. Cash flow at the procurement moment favors wood.
Durability.
- Wood, B-grade: handles forklift abuse predictably. Repairable. Splinters can be a hazard for sanitary applications.
- Plastic: takes more abuse before retirement, doesn't splinter, but a single catastrophic crack ends its life immediately.
- Wood, hardwood: outlasts softwood by 30 – 50%. Heavier per unit.
- Plastic, structural-foam: the most durable plastic format. Most expensive per unit.
Sanitation.
This is where the comparison gets one-sided. For sanitary applications, plastic wins outright.
- Wood: porous, absorbs moisture, can harbor microorganisms. Not wash-down-compatible.
- Plastic: non-porous, easily wash-down, FDA-compatible formats available.
For food, pharma, or cleanroom applications, plastic is the right answer. For everything else, wood is usually fine.
International shipment.
Wood pallets require ISPM-15 compliance for cross-border shipment. Plastic pallets are exempt from phytosanitary regulation because they pose no plant-disease risk.
- Wood, ISPM-15: heat-treated, stamped, and verified for international shipment. Premium over standard wood.
- Plastic: always compliant. No stamp required.
For routine international shipment, plastic is operationally simpler. For occasional or one-off international shipment, ISPM-15 wood is usually cheaper end-to-end.
End-of-life.
- Wood: recyclable to mulch, biomass fuel, or repair stock. We don't landfill wood.
- Plastic: recyclable in some streams, but regional capacity is uneven. Some plastic pallets end up in landfills despite the material being recyclable.
Carbon footprint.
Plastic's longer life amortizes its higher manufacturing footprint. Wood has lower per-unit embodied carbon but more frequent replacement. Per-trip carbon math:
- Wood, B-grade reclaimed: ~0.6 kg CO₂-eq per trip.
- Plastic, used, 100-trip lifespan: ~0.4 kg CO₂-eq per trip.
Plastic edges out on per-trip carbon for high-cycle programs. For low-cycle or one-direction shipment, wood is cleaner.
The decision rule.
Sanitary application: plastic.
Routine international: plastic.
High-cycle closed-loop: plastic.
Standard distribution: wood.
Cash-flow constrained: wood.
Single-direction one-off: wood.
What we stock.
Both. About 60% of our pallet volume is wood (mostly B-grade GMA hardwood). About 40% is plastic. We also keep ISPM-15 wood segregated for export-bound customers.