DUSSELDORF, GERMANY - Some 63.5 million EPAL Euro pallets have been produced in the past year under the licence of the European Pallet Association. 

EPAL was launched to create pallet standards to aid in the automation of material flow, and the globalization of commodity shipments. EPAL cerifies high quality standards for EPAL-pallets throughout the world. Founded in 1991, it began to work with the European Railways to maintain a European-wide quality assurance and inspection standard for the EURO pallet.

In addition to new pallet production, EPAL tracks repaired wooden pallets. The number of repaired wooden pallets stands at 21.5 million. EPAL Euro pallets fulfil the uniform international quality criteria and are exchangeable without restriction. EPAL is represented in 14 countries by their own national committees, who have undertaken to implement the EPAL objectives at national level.

"The EPAL pallet is a success story" says Martin Leibrandt, EPAL CEO. "The production of 63.5 million EPAL wooden cargo carriers attests to their fundamental importance to the users."

The production of the EPAL Euro pallets with the logo on all four corner blocks began 12 months ago. Quality is guaranteed by independent testing at Bureau Veritas, which conducts regular and unannounced inspections of all licence holders. This ensures that EPAL pallets, produced from the sustainable raw material wood, have a long service life and are suitable for use in automated warehouses.

Martin Leibrandt estimates that the increase in licence holders has also contributed to the high production figures for EPAL Euro pallets. Since August 2013 EPAL says it has approved 48 new licence holders.