Calculating a pallet diversion rate
A diversion rate is the share of discarded material kept out of landfill. For pallets, count reused, repaired, remanufactured and ground wood as diverted and returned pooled pallets as diverted. Whether burning for energy counts depends on the program you report to, so the Pallet Fate Report has a switch for it.
The formula
Diversion rate = diverted ÷ total discarded. With pallets you can work by count or by weight. By count is easier from receiving logs; by weight matches how haulers bill. The Pallet Fate Report uses count, with pooled pallets in both the numerator and the denominator and plastic pallets left out, and states this on the result.
Things that change the answer
- Combustion with energy recovery: counted as diversion by some programs, not by others. Check the rule of the scheme or customer you report to and say which you used.
- Pooled pallets: including them raises the rate without any change in your own handling. Report them on a separate line if a reader could be misled.
- Pallets reused in-house: they never left, so they aren't discards. Don't count them twice.
Example
A site sends out 4,800 pallets a year: 20% pooled, the rest wood. Of the wood, 70% is landfilled, 20% reused and 10% ground. Diversion by count = (0.20 + 0.80 × 0.30) ÷ 1.00 = 44%. A reuse program taking landfill to zero would raise it to 100%.