Pallet disposal and recycling: what to do with broken and unwanted pallets

Most unwanted wood pallets never need to see a landfill. Return pooled pallets to their owner, sell repairable 48x40s to a recycler, and send broken ones to a recycler or grinder that turns them into mulch, animal bedding or fuel. Landfilling is the last resort, and North Carolina and Massachusetts restrict it.

Start by sorting

Split your pile three ways before you call anyone:

1. Pooled or marked pallets. Blue CHEP pallets, red PECO pallets and any pallet stamped with another company's name. These go back to the owner.
2. Repairable 48x40s. Used 48x40 stringer pallets with damage a recycler can fix. These are cores, and recyclers buy them.
3. Everything else. Broken pallets, odd sizes and scrap. These go to recycling or grinding.

Sorting first gets you better offers and keeps you from paying to haul away pallets someone else would pay you for.

Option 1: Send them back

Pooled pallets go back to the pool. CHEP and PECO own their pallets and want them returned. CHEP has an online request for blue pallet collection, and PECO takes pickup requests by phone, email or its website. Don't discard, grind or sell them.

Ask your pallet supplier about take-back. Many recyclers sell to the same companies that supply their cores, and trade press notes that whether a recycler hauls your empties away for free or for a fee is a normal point of negotiation. Ask whether the truck that delivers your next load can take empties back.

Option 2: Recycler pickup

Pallet recyclers sort what they collect by size and condition. Good cores get repaired and resold. Broken pallets get dismantled for usable boards, and the rest gets ground.

If you generate repairable 48x40s by the trailer load, you can usually sell them instead of paying to get rid of them. See how to sell used pallets for how offers work, trailer drops and paperwork.

For smaller amounts, ask local recyclers whether they accept drop-offs or run smaller pickups, and what they charge for pallets they can't repair.

Option 3: Grinding into mulch, bedding or fuel

Pallets that can't be repaired still have a use as wood fiber:

• The EPA says wood pallet recycling is usually done by chipping, for uses such as mulch or bedding material. Some wood packaging is also burned for energy recovery.
• A Virginia Tech study of U.S. pallet recovery found that recovery operations grind and sell pallet material as mulch, animal bedding or biofuel feedstock.
• The same study found that landfills that recover pallets give them away to residents, use them on site, grind them into mulch, compost them, or use them as road base or daily cover.
• North Carolina's environmental agency notes that wooden pallets can be reduced to wood chips and reused.

Grinding is a job for a recycler or grinding operation with the right equipment, not a do-it-yourself project. Never grind pooled pallets, which belong to the pool company.

Option 4: Landfill, and where it's restricted

Fewer pallets are ending up in landfills than a generation ago. The Virginia Tech study estimated that 13.1 million pallets were landfilled at U.S. municipal solid waste facilities in 2016, down more than 90% from 138 million in 1998, and that about 15.9 million pallets were recovered, repurposed or reused at the facilities surveyed.

Some states go further and restrict landfilling:

• North Carolina bans wooden pallets from municipal solid waste landfills, effective October 1, 2009, under legislation passed in 2005. According to the state's Department of Environmental Quality, pallets generated as construction and demolition waste may still go to construction and demolition landfills, but pallets from other industries are not allowed in any landfill.
• Massachusetts lists treated and untreated wood and wood waste among the materials banned from disposal. The state's waste ban list says the wood ban applies to landfills only.

Other states and many cities and counties set their own rules. Ask your hauler and your state environmental agency what applies to you before you put pallets in a dumpster.

How to cut pallet waste

The cheapest pallet to dispose of is the one you never break.

• Buy the grade the job needs. A sturdier pallet that survives several trips can beat a cheaper one that breaks on the first. See pallet grades explained.
• Standardize on 48x40 where you can. It is the most common pallet in North America, so it has the deepest market when you are done with it. Odd sizes are harder to place.
• Train forklift drivers. Notched stringers are among the most commonly damaged parts of a wood pallet, according to Virginia Tech and USDA Forest Service research. Square, level fork entry and no pushing or dragging loaded pallets save boards.
• Repair instead of replace. Ask your supplier or a local recycler about repairing your pallets, or about a pickup and repair program.
• Store pallets dry and off the ground. Recyclers reject rot and mold.
• Look at pooling for recurring lanes. If you ship the same full loads every week, renting pallets from a pool may fit better than buying. Compare with the pooling calculator and read CHEP, PECO and pooled pallets vs white-wood.

If you have surplus pallets worth selling, start on the sell your pallets page.

FAQ

Can I throw wood pallets in a dumpster?

It depends on where you are and where your hauler takes the waste. North Carolina bans wooden pallets from municipal solid waste landfills and Massachusetts bans wood from landfills, so check your state and local rules first, and call a pallet recycler before you call your hauler.

What do recyclers do with broken pallets?

They dismantle what they can for usable boards and grind the rest. Ground pallet wood is sold as mulch, animal bedding or biofuel feedstock.

Will someone pick up my old pallets for free?

Often, if they are repairable 48x40s, and you may even get paid for a full trailer load. Broken pallets and odd sizes may carry a haul-away fee, which you can negotiate.

What should I do with CHEP or PECO pallets?

Request a pickup. Both companies own their pallets and run recovery programs: CHEP takes requests through an online form, and PECO by phone, email or web form.