Recycling 45 x 45 plastic pallets: who retires them and how a load is sorted

What a 45 x 45 in CP9 pallet is

The CP9 chemical standard, 1140 x 1140 mm. It carries bags, boxes and drums, and it cubes well in a shipping container. Nelson lists a model, STK 754, with a dynamic rating of 3,100 lb and a static rating of 6,300 lb.

Who retires it

Chemical and plastics plants that ship in containers or change a CP9 specification. Sets retire together.

How the sort goes

Square pallets are reversible, so wear is even and cracks sit in odd places. Check each face. Pallets that carried bagged resin are usually cleaner than drum pallets.

What a 45 x 45 in CP9 load needs to describe

Say whether the decks are open or closed, and what the pallets carried. Then the count, the resin, the colour, any marks and the ZIP.

Size matters for the trailer. Deck area here is 14.1 sq ft, and 48 x 40 is next closest at 13.3 sq ft, so check you have not got the two mixed together.

Reading the measurements

The deck is 45 inches by 45 inches, which is 1143 by 1143 millimetres, 2,025 square inches or 1.306 square metres. The diagonal is 63.6 inches. In shape it is square, with a long side 1.00 times the short one.

If a pallet in the pile measures within an inch of 45 by 45 but not exactly, it may be a metric cousin. The table of every footprint shows which ones are close.

Edges and corners of the 45 x 45 deck

A 45 x 45 in CP9 deck has 180 inches of edge, and forks, beams and straps all land on it. When the corners are intact on a deck of 2,025 square inches the pallet may still sell. When they are broken the pallet is feedstock, and the photograph that shows it is the one of the damaged corner.

Describing a 45 x 45 lot

When you ask about 45 x 45 in CP9 pallets, give the count, the resin if known, the colour and the condition of the decks and runners. Say how the pallets are stored, loose or banded, because that decides how a truck is loaded. A photograph of the underside of one pallet shows the maker marks and any steel.

Where 45 x 45 piles turn up

Chemical shippers use it as the CP9 standard, and plants that load shipping containers use it because the size cubes well. A pile often comes from a plant that changed its CP9 specification.

Open and closed decks

Say whether the decks are open or closed. A closed deck carries bags and boxes without falling through. An open deck suits drums and drains. Both are the same footprint and a recycler sorts them as two lines.