Painted, coloured and stained pallets
A painted pallet is usually a pooled pallet: blue CHEP, red PECO and similar. Those belong to their owner and go back to it. Any painted or stained wood is also out for burning, since EPA's Burn Wise guidance says never to burn coated or painted wood, and it shouldn't go into mulch or animal bedding.
Whose is it?
Colour is how poolers mark their pallets: CHEP's are blue, PECO's red with 'OWNED BY PECO' in white (CHEP; PECO). See found a pooled pallet.
Why paint rules out burning and grinding
EPA lists coated, painted and pressure-treated wood among materials that can release toxic or harmful chemicals when burned (EPA Burn Wise). Paint chips also end up in mulch and bedding if painted pallets go into the grinder.
In Vermont, paint and stains are a separate landfill ban, and the state's wood-waste ban covers untreated wood, so painted pallets fall outside it (Vermont rules).
What to do
- Pooled: return to the owner.
- Your own painted pallets: reuse as pallets, or ask your recycler how they handle painted wood.
Sources
- Burn Wise: Best Wood-Burning Practices U.S. EPA. Accessed October 27, 2026.
- Request blue pallet collection CHEP USA. Accessed October 27, 2026.
- PECO Asset Recovery Program (letter dated April 1, 2023) PECO Pallet. Accessed October 27, 2026.
- 10 V.S.A. § 6621a Landfill disposal requirements Vermont General Assembly. Accessed October 27, 2026.