Pallet Recycling

Wooden pallets are recycled to make mulch for your garden.

Pallets are wooden platforms used for shipping and storing goods. Over 75 percent of new pallets are made with hardwoods, like oak, and harvested from the United States but many cannot be reused. Saving trees is the number one reason to recycle pallets. By recycling wooden pallets, we also conserve the space in landfills and save money. Reuse of wooden pallets for other projects is a popular recycling technique.

Reuse/Recycle

Pallet wood can be reused for various building products, including cabinets and flooring. Furniture, wainscoting, high school wood shop projects, chicken coups and compost bins are all good reuses for pallet wood. Some people use them to make three-dimensional artwork. They can also be repaired and reused as pallets or exchanged with other companies. Manufacturers also make pet bedding and some types of fiberboard from wood pallets.

Lawn and Garden

Pallet pieces that cannot be reused for repairing other pallets or projects are ground into mulch for lawn and garden use. Other outdoor recycle projects include building bird houses, picket fences, wooden walkways (instead of using stepping stones) and play houses for children. A pallet can be painted and used for outdoor plants. They can also be used in the garage, stacked with cinder blocks between them for added storage shelves.

Fuel

Pallets can be safely burned as fuel if they are free of contaminants. They are used in the home fireplace, outdoor fire pit or wood burning stove. Sometimes, the pallets are recycled into fuel pellets or pressed into fireplace logs, which are also safe to burn. An intact pallet can also be used to store all of these sources of fuel in a garage or porch.

Industry

There is an entire industry devoted to the recycle and reuse of wooden pallets and containers. If a business has a surplus of pallets it no longer needs, it can sell the pallets to pallet recycle centers for a small price and reclaim a fraction of the original investment. Some recycle centers only take them for free and others charge to take them away.

Exchange and Donation

Pallets are recycled by reuse or exchange programs. These programs can be instituted by businesses or by local government recycling facilitators. Exchanging pallets between businesses is a cost-effective option for handling excess pallets. Other businesses might donate their used pallets to employees and local businesses and churches for building projects. They can also donate them to the public to use as fuel.

References

• Michigan.gov: Pallets
• P-2 Pays.org: Reference