Red PECO pallets: ownership and the stray pallet program
PECO's red pallets carry white logos and the words 'OWNED BY PECO'. PECO rents them and keeps ownership, so its April 2023 letter says they may not be bought, sold, exchanged, modified or destroyed. Anyone holding stray PECO pallets is asked to set them aside and contact PECO's recovery group, which may pay a recovery amount.
What PECO's letter says
- PECO pallets are painted red and marked 'OWNED BY PECO'.
- Only PECO's authorised representatives may repair them.
- Holders of stray pallets should set them aside and tell PECO, which arranges collection.
- PECO offers a per-pallet recovery payment for stray pallets, set in the letter; pallets returned by PECO's own retail customers, dock sweeps and contracted recovery are not 'stray'.
Reporting them
The April 1, 2023 Asset Recovery Program letter gives PECO's recovery phone number and email (PECO letter, PDF). Read the current letter on PECO's site before relying on the payment terms; we check it each quarter.
Laws that apply
Where a state has a marked-pallet law, a recycler buying red pallets from anyone other than PECO may be breaking it; California's § 21609.7, for example, requires the owner's receipt or written authority (California).
repallet.org is not affiliated with CHEP, PECO or iGPS. Names are used only to identify whose pallets they are.
Sources
- PECO Asset Recovery Program (letter dated April 1, 2023) PECO Pallet. Accessed October 27, 2026.
- Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 21609.7 (junk dealers and recyclers: marked bulk merchandise pallets) California Legislature. Accessed October 27, 2026. Read through the california.public.law mirror.