Plastics News senior reporter Frank Esposito shares highlights from a whirlwind three-week work trip through Indiana, Philadelphia and San Diego.

A visual inspection is usually sufficient to rule out these defects. Inspect the ends of the boards for splits and knots.

Big robotic arms pick up and assemble the parts of the pallet together, stamp them with a custom logo, and ship it off on a conveyor belt. Becker’s farming family helped the plastic-recycling ...