Through the FIS Sustainability Leadership Group, the trade body representing the £10 billion fit-out, finishes and interiors sector became the first trade body to sign the Pallet LOOP Charter.  The charter is focussed on delivering a simple way of actively eliminating avoidable pallet waste. 

The Pallet LOOP is a new venture designed to deliver a tangible step-change in the transportation of building materials throughout the UK. Through its deposit-based scheme, The Pallet LOOP will remove the need to harvest 4,500 acres of trees every year to feed current linear pallet practices. This in turn will reduce related industry CO₂ emissions by up to 70% and cut construction waste by around 10%.

By signing The Pallet LOOP Charter, FIS acknowledge that now is the time for change. Currently, UK construction consumes 18 million pallets each year, achieving a reuse rate of less than 10% – significantly less than FMCG retail, where pallet reuse is now the standard. This practice is clearly unsustainable – economically and environmentally.  In the finishes and interiors sector alone it is estimated that there is around 25 pallets used per £100,000 of turnover.  

Supporters of the Charter commit to:

1. A comprehensive evaluation of how The Pallet LOOP could be integrated within our sector.
2. Championing the adoption of a circular economy pallet solution that reduces associated CO₂ emissions, delivers improved safety, and increases supply chain resilience through standardisation.
3. Cooperating with other industry stakeholders to accelerate sector wide implementation – conscious that there is no Planet B and that that we must act now and adopt more sustainable supply chain and distribution solutions

On signing the charter FIS CEO Iain McIlwee stated:

“The shift in gear needed to help us get where we need to be as a sector isn’t going to happen by waiting for change or trying to find a magic formula, it is about looking at what we can each individually and collectively do to make a difference now.  Logistics is key to enabling change and within this a focus on eradicating single use pallets makes perfect sense.  We very much hope that finding a formula here will be a catalyst for change that can accelerate collaboration and focus the supply chain on practical steps to a practical, circular economy”.

Members of the FIS community that have also signed the charter include Meronden, Willmott Dixon, BDL and Platt and Reilly.  

You can find out more about Pallet LOOP via their website here or via the BBC Short featuring Pallet LOOP linked below.

Visit the FIS Sustainability Hub here