The market for reusing pallets within a company and the external demand for used pallets is growing, not only due to waste prevention criteria being applied, but also to lower prices. But this trend hides fraudulent behaviour, unfair competition and distortion of the market as far as collecting, classifying or repairing and selling pallets is concerned, which is not only damaging to companies that are managed legally but also to the entire value chain.
In the presence of CONFEMADERA, FEDEMCO (which represents some twenty companies that manufacture and repair new and used pallets) has made an appeal for fair play now there is a new government.
Legal control of the activity starts with taxation, as buying and selling pallets wholesale cannot form part of the module tax system, and even less so can output VAT be kept instead of being paid to the Inland Revenue.
This type of company is also subject to environmental regulations (Law 22/2011 on Waste), as a used pallet managed by an agent outside a closed circuit can usually be considered as commercial waste or non-hazardous industrial waste. This occurs above all with models designed to be used just once, and such cases would only be exempt if their condition guaranteed that they would work correctly in a new cycle without the need for classification or repair process.
For all other cases, according to the Law on Waste the possessor of used pallets must prove with supporting documents that they are handed over to an “authorized waste manager” and pallets must be stored safely and in hygienic conditions, otherwise the possessor of used pallets would fall victim to joint liability.
In fact all activities involving used pallets, including storage at a collection point while awaiting treatment (transference plants), are the responsibility of the possessor, and for that reason must comply with all registers, projects, environmental impact, insurances or sureties, inspection, report, etc.