Scott Group Platform Spring 2023

Your pallets, our planet

As sustainability continues to climb the agenda, we’re delighted to report that our pallet recovery service delivered a record year in 2022 – recovering in excess of 1.4 million pallets for reuse.

MOVING AHEAD WITH BSW

Thanks to our expanded, strategically-located site network, we’re achieving greater market penetration than ever through existing and new customers coming on board.

Added to this, we appointed Michael Morse as Business Development Executive last year. He’s been focused on working with the construction industry to challenge the approach of disposing of used pallets and help achieve the long-term objective of zero waste. By him physically visiting building sites and providing guidance and education on sustainability, and targeting site managers to raise awareness of our recovery service, we’re making strong progress to ensure environmental compliance and the cost-effective removal of used pallets for reuse.

We’ve also invested in our fleet of vehicles to ensure we can easily access building sites and merchant yards as well as inner city locations. This not only reduces any reliance on third-party operators to collect pallets but improves our overall customer service.

As we head further into 2023, we’re focusing on building relationships with builders’ merchants to continue strengthening our access to the entire supply chain, as well as expanding our resources into non-construction related industries to ensure all our new pallet customers have the same access to the service and knowledge base we provide.

Find out more and download our brochure here

To arrange a collection, please contact: collection@scott-pallets.com (minimum quantity applies – 50 reusable pallets).

We recently brought together almost 70 Scott Pallets and BSW Group people at Stoke City FC bet365 stadium to hear first-hand from Norman Scott, Group Operation Director, insights into the decision to sell the Scott Group; and to learn more about BSW Group and the Binderholz business from CEO Tony Hackney. The presentations were followed by an open floor Q&A session with a panel made up of directors from both businesses.

ARE YOU KEEN TO GO GREEN?

In the Summer 2022 edition of Platform, we introduced you to The Pallet LOOP – the circular economy pallet reuse scheme for the construction industry that’s different by design. Founded by some of the biggest names in the UK pallet industry, The Pallet LOOP is a joint venture between Paul and Ryan Lewis (previously HLC Wood Products) and Scott Pallets (now part of BSW Group, a member of Binderholz).

Using the principles of circular economics, The Pallet LOOP’s mission is to eliminate avoidable pallet waste in the construction industry – helping the sector meet its zero waste and carbon net zero goals. Currently, less than 10% of the pallets used to distribute building materials in the UK are recovered and reused. The rest are typically skipped or scrapped, an outdated and dysfunctional practice that is unsustainable.

On a mission to change this, The Pallet LOOP has designed a range of distinctive green, 100% FSC pallets that can be used again and again. Offering eight pallet specifications that deliver greater levels of standardisation alongside a dedicated nationwide pallet collection service, The Pallet LOOP represents a step change in supply chain logistics for UK construction.

To incentivise pallet reuse across the sector, The Pallet LOOP’s collection service works out cheaper than putting pallets in skips. There will also be a financial incentive available to merchants, distributors, large housebuilders, and principal contractors for each green pallet that they put back into the LOOP for inspection and reinjection into the supply chain.

During the past year, The Pallet LOOP has been working closely with key players in the construction sector on the adoption of its service model. Discussions are now at an advanced stage with a number of material manufacturers that are keen to go green. Line testing with numerous building material manufacturers has taken place, with several undertaking end-to-end customer trials, with the expectation that green pallets will start to hit the sector later this year.

In advance of this, The Pallet LOOP continues to engage with Scott Pallets to ramp up its pallet collection service; a critical component of The Pallet LOOP solution that bridges the gap between manufacturing, recovery, repair, and re-issue to create a truly sustainable customer solution. The Pallet LOOP is now picking up an ever-increasing volume of single-use ‘white’ pallets from principal contractors and housebuilders nationwide in anticipation of green pallets hitting sites later this year – demonstrating there is a huge demand for a different way of managing pallets at the end of the supply chain.

If you are interested in finding out more about The Pallet LOOP email: info@thepalletloop.com

Are you prepared for packaging reform actions?

The PRN (packaging waste recovery note) system was first established in 1997 and has been deemed no longer fit for purpose as it does not reflect the current waste management practices of today.

The recent government consultation on PRNs highlighted several issues not being taken in to consideration such as the eCommerce boom, inconsistent funding and performance, fragmented communication, waste export operations and volatile market conditions.

As a result, the whole system is being overhauled to make producers more accountable, and the way organisations responsible for packaging must carry out their recycling has changed. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) reforms represent the most significant change to the Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations since their implementation in 1997.

The changes will affect businesses that place packaged products onto the UK market, as they will have to pay 100% of the costs associated with dealing with packaging waste, known as full net cost recovery.

Obligated businesses will fund both the collection and recycling of packaging waste; the former is currently funded by local authorities using money accrued from local taxpayers.

If you’re affected by EPR for packaging, you will need to report your packaging data. Find out more here.

If you have any queries about how the reform impacts your business, please talk to your usual account manager who will endeavour to answer your queries, but please be aware that there are currently hundreds of questions awaiting answers from DEFRA!

We’re going Outward Bound

As a long-term corporate supporter of The Outward Bound Trust, we’re delighted to be sending two employee ambassadors to residential camps for young people this springtime.

Laura Gill, who is based at our Halbeath site, works as a Materials Controller for our Scott Pallets Manufacturing Business Unit; and Mark Graham, Operations Supervisor for our Reconditioned Business Unit site in Bathgate, were selected for this fantastic opportunity through our internal nomination and recruitment process.

This year, we attracted a really high calibre of nominations from our team throughout the country. Laura and Mark were ultimately selected for this opportunity because they put together outstanding personal pitches.

Laura, fresh back from her week-long residential trip to Aberdovey, said: “It was a dream week, and I’m very grateful to have had this opportunity. The weather was challenging at times but also rewarding; walking down the gorge with thick snow falling around was just beautiful. The week from start to finish was an experience I will never forget.”

Mark will attend a similar residential at the Loch Eil centre this summer.

The Outward Bound Trust said: “Our courses take participants on a journey of selfdiscovery. They leave the familiar behind and head to the wild hills, lakes and lochs. “They take on adventures, overcome challenges and learn about leadership, teamwork, and resilience. Often these experiences can be life-changing.”

The Outward Bound Trust is an educational charity that inspires young people to believe they can achieve more than they ever thought possible. Find out more about the brilliant work being done here.

See you there?

Dust Management

We’re exhibiting at CHEMUK 2023 on 10th and 11th May at the NEC in Birmingham. CHEMUK is the largest networking event for the UK’s chemical industries. Every year the conference brings together an unmissable programme of keynote presentations, panel discussions, and feature sessions on the current challenges and opportunities. It’s free to attend, so register here and come and say hello! Find us at stand C84.

We learn and grow

A vacuum and sweeper in operation at our Bathgate site. The benefit is clear both from a housekeeping point of view as well as the health benefit.

Our Reconditioned Business Unit has invested £75,000 in 42 new Nilfisk vacuums and 14 Nilfisk floor sweepers as part of our dust management plan to control dust in the workplace and protect our colleagues from any potential risk of inhaled harmful wood dust.

We’re continuing to equip our people with the skills to succeed through our UK-wide training programme.

Congrats to the team at Burntisland, who recently completed the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training. This globally recognised, data-driven methodology aims to eliminate defects through successive business process improvement. Together, we excel.

Getting to know…Scott Pallets’ Technical Team

Did you know we have a team of five pallet specialists in our dedicated technical team? From accurate specification drawings and load analysis, to queries on mould and staining, along with the latest industry and legislative updates, our technical team is the “go-to” for internal insights and customers’ technical enquiries.

Working as a central resource and based out of sites across our UK network, from Halbeath to Manchester to Peterborough, the team works closely to support sales, operations and compliance departments and is integral to us raising the bar for the industry.

John Dye said: “Our ability to respond quickly, nationwide, is second to none. We can visit customers’ sites to facilitate audit and redesign projects, supporting our sales colleagues and ultimately providing a powerhouse of expertise to add customer value. To continue leading the way, we’re committed to growing our people and are investing heavily in training and development, and our team continues to go over and above to succeed – completing a range of qualifications that support the excellent delivery of their roles.”

All team members are trained on the Pallet Design System (PDS) – which helps us ensure that we can optimise design, reduce manufacturing costs, and lower environmental impact. Meet:

John Dye, Technical & Industry Affairs Director, based in Scotland. He represents our business at several trade associations and committees, including President of the UK Timber Pallet and Packaging Confederation (TIMCON), as well as representing the UK at the European Association FEFPEB – Technical and Policy Committee meetings, he is a member of the UK Wood Marking Advisory Council (ISPM 15), represents the industry on the GB and NI Tree Health Advisory Committee, and is the International Director for the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association (USA).

Kat Wheat, Technical Manager. She has been involved with Scott Pallets since 2015 and was approached to help form the Technical Team in 2019. Working closely with John, she now oversees the team on a daily basis.

Chris Manning, Senior Technical Advisor. Chris started his pallet career manufacturing pallets on the benches, and this knowledge and experience are invaluable to the role. He’s our SolidWorks and CAD specialist.

Laura Richards, Technical Administrator. Laura joined the team in February 2020. She has a great ability to retain industry knowledge and is a huge asset in the business. She is currently completing training on SolidWorks to provide support to Chris.

Joel Nolan, Apprentice Technical Administrator. Our newest team member who joined at the start of the year, is currently learning about our industry and what we offer as a team so he can provide additional resources in due course.

We have a section on our website dedicated to technical and industry insight – if you want to discuss any specific issue in more detail, please reach out to your account manager in the first instance.

John Dye