A £2.5 million facility which is capable of refurbishing and recycling more than 700 pallets an hour has had a successful first 12 months.
IPP opened one of Europe’s biggest pallet recycling plants in Bardon Hill, north Leicestershire, in January 2019, which has the capacity to process six million pallets a year.
The investment protected 60 jobs after the facility replaced IPP’s previous repair centre at Glenfield, which is a couple of miles outside Leicester.
Management said they had smashed the first year’s target of refurbishing 3 million pallets.
The centre, which is also IPP’s biggest in Europe, was built to reinforce the company’s commitment to promoting the recovery and re-use of pallets and boxes – which are used by many of the nation’s biggest distribution and warehousing companies.
Coventry-based IPP said the facility on the Interlink Business Park, Coalville, near junction 22 of the M1, had comfortably hit its first year target.
The business has a long-term agreement with the James Jones Group – one of the biggest timber processing groups in the UK – to operate the site.
Phil Storer, UK director of IPP, said: “We have had a great start as we approach the one year milestone, but Bardon Hill is not yet operating at full capacity – it will be the second year that we will see the facility get into its stride, as part of our long-term growth strategy.
“Sustainability has always been at the heart of what we do and this is further evidence of our commitment to increasing re-use and reducing waste, at every level of both of our businesses and the wider supply chain.
“It has underlined our confidence in the investment in high-end equipment which means that ‘healthy’ pool pallets will be back on the road sooner and damaged ones will be efficiently and quickly repaired in double quick time.”
