Inside Prime Woodcraft’s Zion, Illinois, recycling facility

In December 2016, Prime Woodcraft opened a new pallet recycling facility in Zion, Illinois. The 160,000-square-foot facility was designed to support Illinois businesses with environmentally friendly pallet recycling and manufacturing services.

The main operation for this facility is a pallet pool from which clients may obtain affordable recycled pallets. Workers unload, sort and issue over 60,000 pallets each week from this location, and the pool is sustained through an active on-site repair service that processes an average of 25,000 pallets each week.

The Prime Woodcraft pallet repair division works five days per week, utilizing 14 repair tables for GMA pallets. Four tables are available to repair custom pallets. Two band saws, two chop saws and one trim saw are used in the repair process. The company is invested in advanced technology to keep the repair operation efficient. This includes a chain driven live roller conveyer, also known as a CDLR.

Pallets are fed through a work station to the CDLR, where they're conveyed into a water-based paint solution and then stenciled with an ink jet spray. Finally, a high-speed side lift machine stacks the pallets. At the completion of this process, the journey from trash to product is complete.

Prime Woodcraft founder and CEO Ansir Junaid recently said in an article in Smart Business Magazine that he intends to continue expanding his pallet recycling business across the country.

When asked about his vision for his company moving forward, Junaid said he wanted Prime Woodcraft “to be the respected leader in providing innovative, disruptive and sustainable pallet management and packaging solutions.” Reflecting on the mission of his growing business, he added, "We grow through exceptional teamwork and delivering world-class customer experiences."

The company now employs more than 1,000 people across its 60 facilities. In addition to expanding into new locations, Prime is moving into new products, including envelopes, packing peanuts, boxes and other shipping materials.