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Guides to recycling plastic pallets

Last reviewed Nov 12, 20266 stages
The short answer

These guides answer the questions people ask before they send a plastic pallet load: can it be recycled, who takes it, whose is it, and what is it worth.

Each one starts with the answer and then shows the steps.

RetiredGroundSortedRemoulded
A pallet is shredded and ground to flake, sorted by resin and colour, and moulded into a pallet again.

How the guides are written

Short sentences. The load described by what is in it. A source for every claim about law, standards or a number, and a last-reviewed date. Where a figure does not exist, the guide says so.

Where to start

If you have a pile, start with whether plastic pallets can be recycled, then the pool-marked guide. If you are buying, start with recycled-content pallets and the food contact guide.

What is not here

No price per pound. No promise of acceptance. No tonnage claims. A guide that gave those would be guessing.

How a guide differs from a service page

A service page says what to send and what we do with it. A guide answers a question that comes before sending: whether a pallet can be recycled at all, whose it is, what it is worth or whether it is safe near food.

The pool-marked guide matters most

More loads stop at ownership than at any other point. A pallet with another company’s name moulded in it may never have been yours to scrap, and the guide shows the marks, the law and the cases.

The recycled-content guides

Five guides cover pallets made from recycled plastic: what the label means, what a claim like 100 percent needs behind it, how they are made and what sustainable should mean. Read them before you buy.

What the sources say

  • blog.containerexchanger.comThe 800 x 1200 mm Euro footprint is the second most popular plastic pallet size worldwide.
  • en.wikipedia.orgAbout 500 million pallets are made each year as of 2020, with about 2 billion in use in the US.
  • nelsoncompany.comThat Nelson model is under 5 in tall, which the page says suits air freight, and works with automation and most roller conveyors.
  • nelsoncompany.comPallet capacities are issued by the manufacturer from calculation and lab or field tests, and assume an evenly distributed load.
  • palletenterprise.comCalifornia AB 1760 (2022) lets recyclers take possession of stray proprietary pallets if the owner cannot be identified or fails to retrieve them in time, with a 35-day period before they can be declared abandoned.
  • rehrigpacific.comRehrig Pacific's 40 x 48 heavy-duty nestable pallet is 48.25 x 40.25 x 6.5 in, weighs 28.5 lb, is rated 10,000 lb static and 3,500 lb dynamic, has a 2.55 in nest increment and 1,200 units per 53 ft trailer; the page lists no racking rating.
  • en.wikipedia.orgPlastic pallets are often described as lasting 100 trips or more, and can cost roughly 10 times as much as hardwood pallets.
  • rehrigpacific.comRehrig Pacific's rackable pallet has a two-piece snap-lock design for quick repair and options for FDA-approved colours, RFID and up to 15 percent black recycled content.
  • blog.containerexchanger.comNorth American plastic pallets in the common sizes are about 5 to 6 in tall.
  • en.wikipedia.orgMetal pallets are under 1 percent of the pallet market.
  • phsinc.comPHS lists 48 x 40 stackable plastic pallets with dynamic ratings of 2,500 to 5,000 lb and static ratings of 3,000 to 30,000 lb.
  • en.wikipedia.orgThe 48 x 40 in GMA pallet makes up about 30 percent of new US wood pallets.
  • en.wikipedia.orgPlastic pallets can deform (creep) under heavy long-term loads and are hard to repair.
  • en.wikipedia.orgNFPA requires wood and plastic pallets to be stored outdoors or in a detached structure unless sprinklers protect them.

Terms on this page

Ownership check
Our first step with any pallet that carries a name, logo, tag or colour that suggests another owner.
Pooled pallet
A pallet owned by a rental pool and lent to users, who are expected to return it, not scrap it.
Pooling
Renting pallets from a company that owns, tracks and collects them instead of buying.
Recycled-content pallet
A pallet moulded partly or wholly from post-industrial or post-consumer resin.
Food contact
A material that touches food directly. Recycled content in food-contact use is held to rules a pallet deck usually is not.

Questions people ask

Are the guides written for sellers or buyers?

Both. The first is the pile, the second is the product.

Do you update them?

Each guide shows when it was last reviewed.

Can I ask a question?

Use the contact page.

Which guide should I read for a pile of broken pallets?

Start with whether plastic pallets can be recycled, then the pool-marked guide, then the repair-or-recycle guide.

Which guide is for buyers of recycled pallets?

Recycled plastic pallets and food contact, then the 100 percent recycled guide on the recycled pallets pages.

Got a load like this?

Five questions and a photo. We say what we think happens next once the pallets have been seen.

Sources, reviewed Nov 12, 2026: Association of Plastic Recyclers.

Cracked, retired or mixed?

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