Return-A-Bag: Top Tips for Stacking Your Sacks

Return‑A‑Bag: Top Tips for Stacking Your Malt Sacks

If you are participating (or planning to participate) in our Return‑A‑Bag recycling scheme, one of the most important aspects is how you organise your empty malt sacks before shipping them. The better you stack and secure your waste, the safer the transport, and the more efficient the process.

Here’s a practical guide with top tips and lessons learned (including feedback from Howling Hops Brewery) to help you master the art of palletising malt sacks for Return‑A‑Bag.

The logistics

• The pallet must not exceed 2 metres in height, though there is no weight limit.
• The pallet must be safe and secure for shipment (i.e. the load must not shift or collapse).
• All empty plastic malt sacks (25 kg, half‑tonne, or full tonne sacks), from all suppliers, are accepted through the scheme.

Top Tips for Stacking Empty Malt Sacks

1. Roll up 25 kg sacks and “nest” them inside another 25 kg sack

• Use one empty sack as a “container,” and insert other sacks into it.
• Once one 25 kg “shell” is filled, you can treat it as a self‑contained bundle and stack these on the pallet.

You can combine this with storing the full “bundles” inside a ½‑tonne or 1‑tonne tote bag or sack for added containment.

2. Flatten sacks and build them up in twin piles on a pallet

• Lay empty sacks flat (open them out and smooth creases) and stack them in two columns (if you’re solely stacking 25kg sacks) or pile them side by side on the pallet.
• Alternate the orientation of layers (e.g. half turned 90°) if needed for greater stability.
• Use cardboard or pallet sideboards to contain any flaring sacks.

This method is simple and low effort, especially when the sacks are already fairly flat from unloading.

3. Reuse a pallet with cardboard sides (or stakes) to contain the load

• Take an old pallet and add cardboard sheets or stake sideboards (wood or corrugated) to its edges.
• Use those sides as vertical containment i.e. the flattened or rolled sacks go against those sidewalls, so nothing falls over the edge.
• This allows you to stack more confidently up to the 2m height, with the sides helping prevent shifting.

4. Reuse cardboard boxes from other deliveries for interim containment

• Use cardboard boxes (e.g., from ingredient deliveries) to hold flattened sacks.
• Once a box is full, you can stack it as a “brick” on the pallet, or empty it onto the pallet in one go.

Whichever technique you use, don’t forget to secure the load with wrap or strapping before shipping!

Here’s what the guys at Howling Hops Brewery said:

“Very straightforward and easy for us! Collecting all of our empty malt sacks on a pallet and getting it shipped off is very straightforward. Amazing that the recycling is free as well!”

They also highlighted the value:

“Great to reduce our physical waste footprint!”

And a useful tip from their experience:

“We have found that tying the bags into ‘logs’ and neatly stacking them is easier to handle, stack, and creates less dust. This method is also the most space efficient and therefore cost effective for transporting the waste, maximising the weight of each pallet”.

The Return‑A‑Bag scheme is a great, affordable way to cut down your waste footprint and recycle plastic malt sacks that are otherwise hard to manage. The logistics are designed to be straightforward: stack your sacks, keep them under 2 m in height, secure the pallet, and ship.

Don’t forget, Return-A-Bag does not have any associated recycling or handling fees. The only cost is the transportation fee from your site to the waste-handling facility. So, what are you waiting for? Start recycling your waste malt sacks today: recycling@crispmalt.com