Recycling 48 x 48 plastic pallets: who retires them and how a load is sorted

What a 48 x 48 in pallet is

The drum pallet. A 48 x 48 holds four 55-gallon drums without overhang, which is why chemical and coatings plants use it. Nelson lists one stackable model, STK 207, with a dynamic rating of 4,000 lb and a static rating of 30,000 lb.

Who retires it

Chemical and coatings plants after a change of drum, and warehouses that stored drums for a customer who left. Retirements tend to come in lots of one model.

How the sort goes

Residue is the first question. A pallet that carried drums may have had a leak. Heavy-duty construction means more resin per pallet, so even a small stack is a lot of feedstock.

What a 48 x 48 in load needs to describe

Say what the drums held and whether the pallets have sumps. Then the count, the resin, the colour, any marks and the ZIP.

Size matters for the trailer. Deck area here is 16.0 sq ft, and 48 x 45 is next closest at 15.0 sq ft, so check you have not got the two mixed together.

Reading the measurements

The deck is 48 inches by 48 inches, which is 1219 by 1219 millimetres, 2,304 square inches or 1.486 square metres. The diagonal is 67.9 inches. In shape it is square, with a long side 1.00 times the short one.

If a pallet in the pile measures within an inch of 48 by 48 but not exactly, it may be a metric cousin. The table of every footprint shows which ones are close.

Edges and corners of the 48 x 48 deck

A 48 x 48 in deck has 192 inches of edge, and forks, beams and straps all land on it. When the corners are intact on a deck of 2,304 square inches the pallet may still sell. When they are broken the pallet is feedstock, and the photograph that shows it is the one of the damaged corner.

Describing a 48 x 48 lot

When you ask about 48 x 48 in pallets, give the count, the resin if known, the colour and the condition of the decks and runners. Say how the pallets are stored, loose or banded, because that decides how a truck is loaded. A photograph of the underside of one pallet shows the maker marks and any steel.

Where 48 x 48 piles turn up

Chemical and coatings plants, drum filling lines and warehouses that store drums for others. The pallets sit under racks, in bunded areas and along the walls of bays where drums are staged. A pile may smell of what it carried.

Spill history and photographs

Say whether any drum leaked on the pallets. Photograph any staining, any sump and any label that names a chemical. A recycler will not take a pallet it cannot place, and a straight account saves a visit.