repallet.org

Where your pallets go after the dock

A neutral reference on the end of a pallet's life: who can reuse it, which states ban it from landfill, who owns the blue and red ones, and how to put it in a sustainability report without overstating it. Every rule and number links to its source.

An example site todayReturned to owner (pooled): 20%; Reuse and repair: 16%; Ground to mulch or fuel: 8%; Landfill: 56%An example site todayReturned to owner (pooled) 20%, 960 a yearReuse and repair 16%, 768 a yearGround to mulch or fuel 8%, 384 a yearLandfill 56%, 2,688 a yearThe same example site with a reuse programReturned to owner (pooled): 20%; Reuse and repair: 64%; Ground to mulch or fuel: 16%The same example site with a reuse programReturned to owner (pooled) 20%, 960 a yearReuse and repair 64%, 3,072 a yearGround to mulch or fuel 16%, 768 a year
An example site sending 400 pallets a month off its dock, 20% of them pooled. With a reuse program, the WARM model gives 27.7 MTCO2E a year of avoided emissions, which is smaller than many vendor calculators claim because WARM already credits landfilled wood with carbon storage. Run your own numbers.

Open the Pallet Fate Report

Wood packaging in the United States

26.9%
of wood packaging was recycled in 2018: 3.10 of 11.53 million tons
Source: EPA Facts and Figures, 2018 data

EPA reports wood packaging as a whole; it says pallets make up most of it. EPA's latest published year is 2018. The percentages are our arithmetic from EPA's tonnages.

Rules by state

We have checked 11 states against the statute text so far: three with wood or pallet disposal bans and eight with laws on marked or plastic pallets. Compare landfill bans or marked pallet laws.

AKMEVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILWIMINYRIMAORNVWYSDIAINOHPANJCTCAUTCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFL
States are shaded only where we have read the statute or regulation. “Not yet verified” means we haven't confirmed the rules, not that there are none.

The reference

  • End-of-life pathways for palletsEvery route a used pallet can take, from reuse and repair to grinding, burning and landfill, with the EPA factor that applies to each.
  • Pallets in ESG and greenhouse gas reportingHow to count pallets in scope 3 categories 1, 5 and 12, report avoided emissions separately, and calculate a diversion rate, with EPA factors and worked examples.
  • Pallet reuse program playbooks by facilityPallet program checklists for grocery DCs, 3PLs, manufacturers, stores, restaurants, hospitals, campuses, building sites, farms and municipalities.
  • Guides to handling used palletsPractical guides: stop paying to dumpster pallets, write a hauling contract clause, audit and weigh your pallets, and document diversion for an audit.
  • Pooled pallets: ownership and returnWho owns blue, red and plastic pooled pallets, how each owner collects them, and the state laws on holding or buying marked pallets.
  • Pallet safety for reuse projectsIs pallet wood safe to burn, build with, or use around animals and gardens? HT and MB marks, paint, and what EPA says never to burn.
  • Evidence on pallets and the environmentOne study or dataset per page: EPA's wood packaging data, the landfill surveys, the USDA pallet LCA, and why recycling figures disagree.
  • GlossaryPlain definitions, from stringer and block pallets to forest carbon storage and indicia of ownership.
  • Pallet stamp decoderTo read an IPPC, HT or MB stamp, use the stamp decoder at epalrecycling.com.

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