We collect your own wooden pallets, crates and packing cases, have them heat treated and marked to ISPM 15, and return them to your site, ready for export.
The core of the wood is held at 56°C for at least 30 minutes, and every item comes back stamped with the IPPC symbol, the producer code and HT.
The pallet heat treatment service covers your own wooden pallets and your wooden crates and packing cases, the wood packaging that ISPM 15 applies to, according to GOV.UK.
Any size of wooden pallet you already own, from UK standard 1200 x 1000 mm and Euro 1200 x 800 mm to CP and odd sizes.
Solid-wood crates, packing cases and the dunnage packed with them.
Bark left on the wood is removed before treatment, as ISPM 15 allows only pieces under 3 cm wide, or wider pieces under 50 cm² in total, according to GOV.UK.
Pallets are heat treated to ISPM 15 in a kiln that holds the core of the wood at 56°C for at least 30 continuous minutes, then stamped with the ISPM 15 mark, according to GOV.UK.
Bark is cut away to the ISPM 15 limit before the wood goes in.
A temperature probe goes into the densest piece in the slowest-heating part of the kiln.
The kiln runs until the probe reads 56°C at the core and holds it for 30 minutes.
Each item is stamped with the IPPC symbol, the country code, the producer code and HT, the code for heat treatment.
The kiln's temperatures for each run are kept for audit.
Dielectric heating (code DH) is the other heat route, at 60°C for 1 minute through the whole profile, for wood under 20 cm thick (GOV.UK).
The standard behind each step, including the materials it exempts, is set out in our guide ISPM 15 explained. A kiln drying cycle alone does not meet ISPM 15 unless the core reaches 56°C for 30 minutes, according to the Forestry Commission.
The heat treatment service works in three steps. We collect your pallets, have them heat treated and marked, and we return them.
Tell us what needs treating, how many, the sizes and the postcode; we reply with a price.
We collect them from your site and check the marks they already carry.
They are heat treated and stamped, and we return them with the batch details.
Only members of the UK Wood Packaging Material Marking Programme who are registered with the Forestry Commission as professional operators heat treat and mark ISPM 15 wood packaging in Great Britain, according to GOV.UK.
Every item in this service comes back heat treated and carrying the ISPM 15 mark.
No for marked pallets left as they are, because a pallet with a legible ISPM 15 mark that has not been repaired or rebuilt needs no new treatment, according to the IPPC's text of ISPM 15.
| Pallet state | Treatment needed | Mark | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marked, not repaired | None | The existing mark stays, while legible | ISPM 15 section 4.3.1; Defra |
| Repaired, up to about one third of parts replaced | Only treated wood used in the repair | Re-marked before export | ISPM 15 section 4.3.2; Defra |
| Rebuilt, more than about one third replaced | The whole pallet re-treated | Old marks removed, a new mark applied | ISPM 15 section 4.3.3 |
We check the marks first, and pallets that already carry a legible ISPM 15 mark and have not been repaired come back untreated and are left off the price. Pallets mended by our pallet repair service for export go through the same rule.
The ISPM 15 mark is the heat treatment certificate, and wood packaging with a legible mark needs no phytosanitary or treatment certificate, and no certificate replaces the mark, according to GOV.UK.
Empty pallets shipped on their own carry the mark too, and it replaces an export phytosanitary certificate (Defra).
Four things set the cost of pallet heat treatment, the number of items, their type and size, the collection and return postcode, and how many already carry a legible mark.
| Cost driver | How it moves the price |
|---|---|
| Number of items | More items share one collection and one kiln run |
| Type and size | Crates and large cases take more kiln space than pallets |
| Postcode | Collection and return are priced to your postcode |
| Existing marks | Legibly marked, unrepaired pallets are left off the price |
A pallet heat treatment quote is priced to your postcode, with collection, treatment and return in one figure, so send what needs treating, how many and where.
Treat your own pallets when you already hold enough sound wooden pallets or crates for the load; buy heat treated pallets when you do not.
| Detail | Treat your own | Buy heat treated |
|---|---|---|
| What you need first | Sound wooden pallets or crates on site | Nothing; we supply the pallets |
| What comes back | Your own items, marked | New or used pallets, already marked |
| How to order | Book treatment on this page | Order from the heat treated pallet range |
We also sell heat treated pallets ready marked, in UK standard, Euro, CP and square sizes, on our page for heat treated pallets for export, and heat-treated pallet collars to go with them. Both routes meet the rule for loads from Great Britain to the EU and to Northern Ireland, which need the ISPM 15 mark (GOV.UK). A third route is plastic pallets, exempt from ISPM 15 because the GOV.UK rules cover wood packaging material. New export crates are built to order on our page for wooden crates and packing cases.
Yes. We collect pallets for heat treatment from sites across the UK and return them marked.
No. Kiln drying lowers moisture and sets no minimum temperature; heat treatment holds the core at 56°C for 30 minutes. Only heat treatment earns the HT mark, according to the Forestry Commission.
No. Plastic pallets are exempt from ISPM 15, because the GOV.UK rules cover wood packaging material and a plastic pallet contains no wood.
The kiln hold is at least 30 continuous minutes at 56°C in the core of the wood, counted from when the core reaches that temperature. The full turnaround, collection to return, depends on the number of items and is confirmed with your quote.
You heat treat pallets for export yourself only as a registered member of the UK Wood Packaging Material Marking Programme, according to GOV.UK; otherwise the pallet carries no ISPM 15 mark and counts as untreated.
Send what needs treating, the number and your postcode, then request a quote.