Bulletin 018 · regrind

HDPE regrind for sale: ask for pallet-based material

Last reviewed Nov 12, 20267 stages

The short answer

HDPE regrind for sale from pallets is not a shelf product. It is made from sorted loads, so availability follows the loads we handle.

Ask for the resin, colour and form you need. We say if a match is possible. We do not list volumes or prices.

Got a load like this?

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

Send a load Find your area

A mesh screen sets the flake size. What passes goes on; the oversize goes back to the grinder.

Start with your spec

Resin first, then colour, then the flake size your line takes. A moulder running black HDPE has a different need from one making grey buckets.

Be clear on food contact

Pallet regrind is not made for food contact. The Cary Company is explicit that its regrind is not FDA compliant. If your end use touches food, say so now.

Document what you need

Recycled-content claims need paperwork. A percentage on a data sheet is a claim. The documentation behind it is the proof.

What we can say

We can say what the load was, how it was sorted and where the resin came from. We cannot say a number before we have seen the pallets.

What a spec sheet says

Resin, colour, size of the flake, moisture, contamination limits and the source. A buyer without a spec gets whatever is available. A buyer with one gets a conversation.

Samples and testing

Ask for a sample before you commit to a load. Test the material on your machine, not just on a data sheet. We make no promise about a sample here.

Honest limits

We do not state a stock, a price or a delivery time. This page is where a buyer says what they want, and where we say what we can look for.

Questions we ask a regrind buyer

Question	Why
HDPE or PP?	The two never share a pile
Black, one colour, mixed?	Colour sets the use
Flake size?	Set by the screen
Food contact?	Pallet regrind is generally not for it
Documentation?	Recycled-content claims need it

What the sources say

nelsoncompany.comThat used pallet is listed as pharma and food safe but not approved for direct food contact, in colours that vary.
rehrigpacific.comRehrig Pacific's heavy-duty nestable can be made with post-consumer or post-industrial recycled material, up to 30 percent in black and up to 10 percent in colour, and is RFID compatible.
en.wikipedia.orgResin identification codes do not indicate whether a product is recyclable; ASTM D7611 governs the coding.
nelsoncompany.comHDPE is the most common resin in plastic pallets; PP is more rigid and the page recommends it for unsupported racking.
nelsoncompany.comFor products touching the pallet directly, stricter federal requirements may call for non-blended virgin HDPE; recycled pallets often meet general FDA needs.
resource-recycling.comIn April 2017, HDPE HMW regrind from drums and IBCs was 24 to 27 cents per pound picked up in the US South (historical, not current).
nelsoncompany.comThat Nelson model lists about 60 pallets per stack and 1,800 per truck.
en.wikipedia.orgHDPE has resin identification code 2, a density of 930 to 970 kg/m3, melts at 131.8 C and is hard to glue, so joints are usually welded.
en.wikipedia.orgPlastic pallets can deform (creep) under heavy long-term loads and are hard to repair.
en.wikipedia.orgAbout 500 million pallets are made each year as of 2020, with about 2 billion in use in the US.
en.wikipedia.orgPlastic pallets are made by injection molding, structural foam molding, thermoforming, compression molding, rotational molding and profile extrusion.
aphis.usda.govUSDA APHIS lists plastic pallets among products not subject to APHIS regulation, as an alternative to wood packaging material.
nelsoncompany.comAdvanced composite material pallets are 100 percent recycled polyolefins, cheaper with a shorter life, and suit export where the pallet is not returned.
rehrigpacific.comRehrig Pacific offers the standard-duty nestable with recycled content of up to 90 percent in black, and describes it as 100 percent recyclable.

Terms on this page

HDPE: High-density polyethylene, resin code 2. The most common resin in plastic pallets; tough and moisture resistant.
Regrind: Plastic ground from used or scrap parts into flakes for moulding again.
Flake: The small, irregular pieces a granulator makes. Flake is regrind before it is sold or melted.
Moulder: A manufacturer that melts regrind or pellets and forms them into parts, such as pallets.
Food contact: A material that touches food directly. Recycled content in food-contact use is held to rules a pallet deck usually is not.
Recycled-content pallet: A pallet moulded partly or wholly from post-industrial or post-consumer resin.
Contamination: Anything in a load that is not the target resin: labels, metal, dirt, wood, food residue or another plastic.
Nestable: Empty pallets stack inside one another, cutting empty storage space by up to 75 percent.
Virgin resin: New, unblended resin that has not been through a product before.
PP: Polypropylene. More rigid than HDPE and better with heat and harsh chemicals; used where rack stiffness matters.
Screen: The perforated plate under a granulator’s knives. The size of its holes sets the size of the flake.

Questions people ask

Can I buy by the bag or by the truck?

We do not state quantities or prices. Ask in the form.

Is it virgin?

No. Regrind is reprocessed material.

Can you certify the content?

We say what the load was. A third-party certificate is something to ask a manufacturer for.

Can I buy regrind from you?

Describe what you need through the form. We say what we can find and what documents exist.

Do you sell virgin resin?

No.

Sources, reviewed Nov 12, 2026: The Cary Company, what is regrind; Nelson Company, what material is used for plastic pallets.