epalrecycling.comEuro pallet reference for the US and Canada

Heat treatment (HT)

Heat treatment, coded HT, means the wood was heated in a steam or dry kiln chamber until the whole profile, including the core, reached at least 56 °C for 30 continuous minutes. It is the treatment EPAL requires for EPAL pallets.

Document
GLS-016
Sheet
Glossary
Last reviewed
Sources
3 cited

The requirement

ISPM 15 Annex 1 sets the HT schedule: 56 °C for a minimum of 30 continuous minutes throughout the entire profile of the wood. Treatment providers measure at the coldest point, usually the core of the thickest piece, or use schedules validated by test treatments.

Heat treatment is not the same as drying

Kiln drying can count as heat treatment if it meets the schedule, but dried wood is not automatically treated wood. The HT code is what proves it, together with the registration code of the facility.

EPAL and HT

EPAL says new EPAL pallets have been heat-treated to ISPM 15 since 1 January 2010 and prohibits methyl bromide. On an EPAL pallet the treatment code should therefore read HT.

Bark

For heat treatment ISPM 15 allows bark to be removed before or after treatment, unlike fumigation, where it must come off first.

Sources

Last reviewed . Figures come from these publications; follow the links for the current versions.

  1. ISPM 15, Regulation of wood packaging material in international trade (adopted 2018, published 2019), IPPC Secretariat / FAO
  2. ISPM 15: protection of international ecosystems, European Pallet Association e.V.
  3. EPAL Euro pallet (EPAL 1), load-carrier page, European Pallet Association e.V.

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