Orbis Introduces a Solution for Combustible Wooden Pallets

Wooden pallets may be inexpensive, durable and practical, but they are also flammable.

Storing wooden pallets at your warehouse or manufacturing facility could be an invitation for disaster, as was illustrated by a series of destructive pallet fires recently:

  • In December 2012, about 3,000 wooden pallets caught fire at a wood recycling plant in North Fayette, Pennsylvania. The cause was determined to be spontaneous combustion.
  • In January 2013, 22 different fire department battled a massive blaze at a pallet plant in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. About 100,000 pallets were destroyed in the fire.
  • Also in January 2013, a fire at a Detroit pallet company caused the complete collapse of the company’s warehouse.
  • And later that same month, another pallet fire at a pallet recycling facility in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, was so huge it could be seen from many miles away.

While no one was injured in any of these fires, they illustrate the dangers of accumulating a large amount of combustible wood pallets on your property.

Fireproof But Environmentally Harmful

While fireproof plastic pallets have been available for at least the past ten years, in order to make them fire-retardant they have required the use of halogens, bromines and other environmentally harmful materials.

Now Orbis Corporation — the manufacturer of industrial packaging materials that is headquartered in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin — has come up with the solution: Fireproof pallets that don’t contain hazardous additives.

Factory Mutual Insurance has approved the use of Orbis’ new non-halogenated, fire-retardant pallet for use by its members. Orbis now makes more than 18 different pallets out of this innovative new fireproof material, including a 40″x48″ pallet that can edge-rack up to 2,200 pounds.

A Breakthrough for Fire Safety

Curt Most, Orbis product manager, said the new pallet material will improve the safety of many industries.

“Orbis is dedicated to developing solutions that work for companies across a variety of industries,” Most said in a company news release. “Our pursuit of this material, and its subsequent approval by Factory Mutual, puts our reusable plastic pallets at the forefront of the industry. It was crucial that we created a halogen-free pallet that met environmental safety regulations, without compromising the material performance our customers have come to expect. We are proud to offer the industry one of the first approved halogen-free solution for fire-retardant pallets.”

No Halogens or Bromine

This is the first time fireproof pallets have been made without halogens, which are reactive nonmetallic elements that form strongly acidic compounds with hydrogen, from which simple salts can be made. The new fireproof pallets also do not contain bromine, the chemical element of atomic number 35, a dark red fuming toxic liquid with a choking, irritating smell.

While halogenized compounds are widely used in plastic products, in recent years there has been a global push to eliminate these materials from products in order to benefit the environment.

All ORBIS FM-approved pallets can be manufactured with a new fire-retardant additive that contains zero halogens or bromine, offering a more eco-friendly — and safer — alternative to conventional pallets. The company, which is a leading manufacturer of sustainable reusable packaging materials, also makes pallets in metal and x-ray detectable materials.