The opportunity

 

British Gypsum, the UK’s largest user of pallets in construction, sources ~1.6 million pallets annually to transport its bagged plaster and plasterboard products. To cut pallet waste and improve timber efficiency, British Gypsum had a pallet collection service in place with a third-party logistics provider for the recovery of its plasterboard pallets. Take up of the British Gypsum pallet collection service was initially successful. However, pallet recovery rates plateaued at ~11%. With ~90% of its plasterboard pallets going to waste and no collection service in place for its bagged plaster pallets, British Gypsum wanted to find a more sustainable solution to drive up pallet collection volumes.

The approach

 

In April 2024, British Gypsum announced it would become The Pallet LOOP’s first customer – a landmark move setting the construction industry on a new path when it comes to pallet usage. With The Pallet LOOP’s distinctive green circular economy pallets rolling out at the start of June, the two companies worked together to encourage British Gypsum’s customers to register for LOOP’s collections service. Building on The Pallet LOOP’s existing industry education programme, the two teams embarked on a sustained twelve-week marketing campaign. Builders’ merchants, housebuilding companies and principal contractors were targeted with a clear message: Get in the LOOP today to save timber, reduce waste, cut carbon, and ultimately save your business money.

The results

 

In the summer of 2024, LOOP pallets started to roll out of British Gypsum. The first pallet to go live was The Pallet LOOP’s construction industry pallet; quickly followed by a larger plasterboard spec. By the end of October, The Pallet LOOP had issued 450,000+ reusable pallets to British Gypsum and set up more than 6800 pallet collection points on its system. Pallet recovery rates hit ~30% in October and November 2024 for LOOP’s standard construction pallet – surpassing previous recovery rates. Returns of plasterboard pallets are now heading in the same direction. Using its recovery data, The Pallet LOOP estimates that, so far, it has also:

– Saved the sector around 250 tonnes of carbon

– Diverted up to 2,500 tonnes of wood waste from skips

– Saved around 5,000 m3 of timber

– Saved companies returning pallets almost £1 million in skip costs

– Paid back almost £180k to companies returning LOOP’s distinctive pallets.

Client testimonial

 

When the partnership between British Gypsum and The Pallet LOOP was first announced, Dean O’Sullivan, Managing Director at British Gypsum, part of Saint-Gobain Interior Solutions, said:

“We are delighted to announce our partnership with The Pallet LOOP as we aim to radically cut unnecessary waste. Pallets left behind after products have been removed have for a long time created a challenge, with many being unsustainably disposed of at a heavy environmental cost. By joining forces with The Pallet LOOP, we aim to significantly reduce this practice.”

Watch this space for more information as more companies get in the LOOP across UK construction.