TIPS: Prevent pollution through effective pallet management

(The following tips for managing pallets were developed by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, not by the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, and are being provided as a service.)

Used pallets can become a serious disposal problem for some companies. If pallets are accumulating on your company's loading dock faster than you can deal with them, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality suggests implementing the following techniques.

Survey the situation

Examine the current use of pallets to determine why they become a waste.
Take note of the size, the types and the number of pallets being purchased/hauled off and their use requirements.
Note the costs that your company incurs to purchase, handle and dispose of the pallets.

Investigate waste elimination/reduction options

Have suppliers take back their pallets.
Ask customers to return pallets to you for reuse.
Investigate a no-pallet material handling system, such as slipsheets or durable racks.
Change pallet size or quality specifications to promote reuse and recycling.
Use plastic lumber-type pallets made from post-consumer recycled plastic.

Consider pallet management opportunities

Standardize pallet sizes

To reduce the number of pallets that your company handles, consider standardizing the size of incoming and outgoing pallets.
Work with vendors to supply incoming materials on pallets that your company can use to ship out its final product.
In addition to handling and disposal costs for each pallet not reused, companies can pay $8.50 or more for each new, full-sized pallet.
If standard-size pallets such as a 48" x 40" four-way are used, the markets and value for used pallets will improve as labor for sorting is reduced and the quantity of standard-size pallets available is increased.
Standardization facilitates recycling.

Exchange pallets

One way to handle excess pallets is through exchanges between businesses.
Resulting agreements between businesses to exchange pallets can keep used pallets out of the waste stream and reduce costs for new materials.
Intra-county exchange programs can be expanded into larger regional waste exchanges to increase the material pool.
Another good exchange possibility is a sister facility that can exchange pallets with your plant.

Repair pallets

By purchasing high-quality, rebuildable pallets instead of cheaper models, companies that use pallets regularly may realize savings of up to $3 to $4 per pallet by repairing them in-house.

Donate pallets

Industries can give wooden pallets away to facilities that chip pallets for use as fuel, mulch, compost or animal bedding if the pallets are not treated or contaminated with hazardous or toxic residuals.
Companies with a small number of pallets can give away clean scrap pallets to employees for firewood and, during the winter, to the public to fuel wood stoves. (Editor's note: Be sure the wood in the pallets hasn't been treated with any preservatives that would emit hazardous fumes if set on fire.)