Cases for hackathon single-use pallets

The central question of the Hackathon is: “How can we avoid the single use of transport pallets?”

Any idea that makes transport pallets more suitable for reuse or continued use is welcomed. You can make a proposal for the continued use of the material, for the transportation and resale system of transport pallets, or even a totally different innovation or solution.

As a part of the hackathon, we have five caseholders, who work with pallets or want to work with pallets. These caseholders can provide a paid follow up assignment, if there is a team that has a great idea. These are the cases one by one:

We-Used – Matching

How do you ensure that transport pallets aren’t thrown away after a single use? By reusing them for their intended purpose: as transport pallets! One of the cases we’ll be working on at the Hackathon on February 20th is that of We-Used.nl. This is a national initiative for matching, collecting, and selling transport pallets.

We-Used prefers to transport the pallets directly from the supplier to the buyer, as this reduces transport movements and CO2 emissions. Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible; a batch of pallets often contains different sizes and broken items. Therefore, they first need to be sorted and repaired. How do you do this affordably? How do you plan transport efficiently and logically? And how do you ensure that We-Used is found by suppliers and buyers? We’re excited to take on this challenge. Do you have a great idea? Then you have a chance to win a follow-up assignment at We-Used.

BLOK Plaatmateriaal – Deposit

BLOK Plaatmateriaal supplies beautiful sheet material to interior designers, furniture makers, stand builders, contractors, and other professionals in the industry. They transport and deliver these sheets on pallets. BLOK manufactures its own transport pallets in ten different sizes to ensure the entire product range is delivered efficiently, and they operate a deposit system. A great system, you might think. But empty pallets also take up space during transport. Sometimes the transport has to travel far to pick up just a few pallets, and sometimes the pallets don’t return at all. Deposit systems work well, because the people at BLOK know that if you deliver on pallets without a deposit, nothing comes back, and you constantly have to buy new pallets.

Who has an idea for BLOK? How can this be improved? How can this be done differently? Jan Blok himself will be present as a coach at the hackathon; he knows the ropes, and new ideas are always welcome.

UP Carwash – Sturdy plastic pallets

Indoor Carwash Holding BV in Beverwijk specializes in cleaning, polishing, and of course, washing of all types of vehicles. They receive many products on pallets for this purpose, such as car shampoo and polishes. UP Carwash’s question is: can we use the packaging of these products to create more sustainable pallets? Transport pallets made of hard plastic or HDPE? What if all carwashes adopted this approach? Could we set up a facility to heatpress these materials and make them into transport pallets?

Peerby – Exchange box made of pallets

Peerby is an app where you can borrow items, tools, and things like folding chairs that you only need for a short time. Why buy them when you can borrow or rent them from your neighbors? Peerby is all about sharing with your neighbors.

To make sharing with your neighbors even easier, Peerby wants to challenge Hackathon participants to create a tool-sharing system made of pallet wood, making it easy to borrow and exchange tools. For example, you can borrow a drill when your neighbor isn’t home, and then safely return it. By making the lending box from pallet wood, Peerby is continuing the sustainable use of resources for which it is known.

How do you ensure the box is robust and vandal-proof? How does this idea remain affordable? How do you motivate people to share things through the box’s appearance? You see it on the street and think, “Hey, Peerby! That’s handy!”

Isolatie Combinatie – Pallet benches

Isolatie Combinatie (IC) manufactures, delivers and installs fire protection, thermal and acoustic insulation solutions. They are based in Beverwijk, very close to Collectief Circulair. IC has its own design and production department, with engineers, manufacturers, designers, installers and fabricators all under one roof. Many of these employees would likely appreciate the option to sit outside during their break — ideally on a bench made from their own transport pallets.

At first glance, this case seems straightforward. We have all seen pallet benches online; the concept appears simple enough. But what happens if we take it a few steps further? Could we develop outdoor furniture for production companies across the city using materials that are already available locally? What would the true costs be? How much CO₂ could be saved? And what would be required to make these transport pallets genuinely suitable for high-quality repurposing?

The follow up assignment is clear, help multiple companies in this city to take a break on their very own benches!

Register for the Hackathon on February 20th

Are you interested in working on of these cases? Or do you have your own idea? Then register for the 𝗵𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲-𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝘁𝗵 at https://rik.re/HackPallets

This event is made possible in part by the European Union, JTF IJmond, Kansen voor West, and ondernemersfonds Beverwijk.