EPAL Board Meeting on 23 June 2022 in Zurich

On June 23, 2022 the Board meeting of the European Pallet Association e.V. (EPAL) took place in Zurich. Besides the situation in Ukraine, the EPAL Board discussed other current topics of the open EPAL European Pallet Pool.

The EPAL Board first discussed the consequences of the war in Ukraine. With few exceptions, EPAL's 35 licensees in Ukraine have been able to continue the production of EPAL Euro pallets after a short interruption and in the months of March to May 2022 even significantly increased the production volume compared to the previous year. EPAL, with the support of EPAL Polska, has carried out several aid deliveries to Ukraine, financed by donations from EPAL National Committees. Most recently, a fully equipped ambulance was handed over to a Ukrainian aid organization in this way.

Jarek Maciążek, new President of EPAL and Vice President of EPAL Polska:

"EPAL Polska would like to thank the EPAL National Committees for their great financial support to the relief efforts. EPAL Polska's team will continue to organize and deliver relief supplies to Ukraine and looks forward to the continued support that has been pledged by many EPAL licensees in addition to EPAL."

Contrary to widely expressed fears, the war in Ukraine has not led to an acute shortage of EPAL Euro pallets in Europe. The supply of wood and nails to EPAL licensees is running largely smoothly, with the result that EPAL's production volume grew by around 10% in the first half of 2022. More than 46 million new EPAL Euro pallets have already been produced in January-May 2022.

Tatyana Sargsyan, Member of the EPAL Board:

"With the again strong growth in the production of new EPAL Euro pallets in the first half of 2022, EPAL's promise has been fulfilled that no user of EPAL Euro pallets will have to limit production or delivery of goods because there are not enough EPAL Euro pallets available. EPAL's licensees have once again proven to be reliable partners for users from industry and trade, having already ensured the maintenance of supply chains during the Corona pandemic with their classification as systemically important companies. The availability of EPAL Euro pallets at any time and any place in Europe and numerous other countries is one of the great strengths of EPAL compared to other pallet pools."

Another important topic at the board meeting was sustainability in logistics. The EPAL Euro pallet pool has already been a prime example of a functioning circular economy ("reduce-reuse-repair-recycle") for decades. In the future, EPAL will communicate this even more clearly in order to further increase the number of participants in the EPAL Euro Pallet Pool and the associated benefits for sustainable and safe logistics.

Paulo Verdasca, Member of the EPAL Board:

"Many companies from trade, industry and logistics are looking for projects to achieve their ambitious sustainability goals. We want to inform these companies even better that participation in the open exchange of EPAL Euro pallets can be an important contribution to achieving the sustainability goals. Participating in the EPAL open exchange pool is a significant contribution to protecting resources, saving energy, reducing CO₂ emissions and avoiding waste."

EPAL Italia representatives informed the Board about a new law that will promote and facilitate the use of EPAL Euro pallets in Italy in the future. With the new law, recipients of EPAL Euro pallets will be required to return them to the supplier, even if there is no explicit exchange agreement.

Davide Dellavalle, Chairman of EPAL Italia and member of the EPAL Board:

"We are pleased that the new law recognizes and supports the importance of the EPAL Euro Pallet Pool for a functioning Circular Economy. We are also particularly pleased that the explanatory memorandum of the draft law now also officially confirms that the EPAL Euro Pallet Pool is the most widely used pallet pool both in Italy and worldwide and that there are numerous benefits associated with the use of EPAL pallets."

The EPAL Board meeting on June 23, 2022, was chaired for the last time by Robert Holliger, who after a 12-year term did not stand again for the office of President at the General Assembly on June 24, 2022. The members of the EPAL Board thanked Robert Holliger with a long applause for his great commitment to the benefit of EPAL and honored him in a subsequent farewell ceremony with numerous personal memories.