PALLETS & PACKAGING
PALLETS & PACKAGING - Turning a problem into a solution and explaining what we use and why.
Stone Warehouse deliveries are always big and bulky. Please ensure that you have read our Delivery Guidelines before completing any purchase.
To make sure our products arrive safely and don't cause 'health and safety' issues on site, substantial packaging is required. This leaves disposal, or reuse of the packaging something for the customer to consider.
So how can we help?
Let's start by looking at the packaging in question.
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The majority of Stone Warehouse orders will arrive on a reusable timber pallet, or in the case of our rockery products, contained in a purpose made timber crate, similar to those pictured above. |
This will form the largest element of packaging and therefore potentially the biggest problem, but perhaps the biggest opportunity.
There are many pallet collection companies in the country who will buy pallets for cash depending on their condition. A directory can be found at www.collectmypallets.co.uk.
However, most will only run a collection service for large quantities, so for single numbers, this might be a dead end and is why Stone Warehouse cannot offer a collection service ourselves.
Your local council refuse centre is another option if you want to get rid and this allows them to be recycled or reused. In this instance, make sure to give the pallet a thorough check as protruding nails or screws can do damage to your car interior when taking them to be recycled.
However, for the more creative of you, and our favourite plan is to re-use your pallet, upcycling them into decorative garden or interior features. This is particularly ideal for crates as with no messing around and very little effort, these can be re-used as compost and grass cutting bins, or with a Stone Warehouse Membrane stapled inside, they are a ready-made garden planter.
A few metal ties, some screws, and a Stone Warehouse Membrane, gives you garden planter created from pallets rather than a crate. Or for the less adventurous and those with only one or two pallets, simply filling a laid pallet with compost creates a perfect planting frame.
Upcycling pallets to create garden furniture doesn't take much effort either! Stacked pallets, fastened together with an upright as a back support and wheels on the table for manoeuvrability, create eye-catching patio coffee table and chairs, stained in a dark colour with some cushions for added comfort.
Using an upturned pallet, fastened to a wall, or stood with stabilising feet and a base attached to each of the forklift holes, you can create a rustic, yet beautiful kitchen garden herb planter, blackening the cross members with the addition of white paint or chalk to name each herb.
All of a sudden you Stone Warehouse packaging required through necessity doesn't feel like a waste product at all does it?
So, is that the extent of Stone Warehouse Packaging?
No, the vast majority of Stone Warehouse orders arrive with customers inside a large single bulk bag, sat on its own pallet.
But what is a bulk bag?
Made from a durable, woven polypropylene and designed for the transportation of heavy goods in 'bulk' including Stone Warehouse Gravel & Chippings, Pebbles & Cobbles, and our Slate & Paddlestones, bulk bags are available in a variety of sizes which is a very important factor to consider when comparing prices with other suppliers. Stone Warehouse will always state the bulk bag weight, which is typically 850kg, so be sure to look for this as if you can't see a weight, you might be purchasing less than you think!
For more information about bulk bag sizing, please see our 'How Big is a Bulk Bag' article.
Most bulk bags are designed as a single use product but that doesn't mean they should simply be disposed of after emptying! Far from it!
Wash out any dust or remnant of slurry from your delivered aggregate and fold the bag down, storing it away until you next decide to have one of those big garden clear ups at the end of autumn, or ready for planting in spring.
Bulk bags are perfect re-used as garden bags for temporary storage of garden waste when your recycling bin is full.
Being manufactured from the same woven polypropylene as our weed membranes, if you find you're short of coverage by the odd square metre, you can finish your project cutting the bulk bag down and pegging it in place before covering with Stone Warehouse aggregates.
Our final material to find a home for is plastic bags, and we all know the bad press that comes with them. So why do we use ‘Poly Bags’?
Our Poly Bags contain either 20kg or 25kg of stone depending on the product in question and Stone Warehouse offers a multitude of bag numbers supplied on a pallet as standard, from 7 bags up to 50 being the maximum.
So why?
The smaller bags offer a convenience of buying a smaller amount of stone and an ease of handling at your home. Moving a small amount of material in its own bag rather than using a shovel and wheelbarrow to distribute around your property can have some significant advantages, especially if the material needs to go through the house into your garden space.
Fortunately, the re-cycling of plastic is now well and truly established via your local authority waste disposal, and Stone Warehouse bags can go into that system.
All the plastic that is used by Stone Warehouse already contains 30% re-cycled content which saves virgin plastic entering the waste streams, and we will continue to challenge that percentage.
