Eco-Friendly Pallet Recycling
Every year, an estimated 420 million pallets end up in US landfills. We are changing that. Our comprehensive recycling program recovers 95% of materials from every pallet, transforming waste into valuable products while helping your business meet its sustainability targets.
Our Environmental Impact
These numbers represent real, measurable progress toward a more sustainable future. Every pallet recycled makes a tangible difference for our planet.
By extending pallet lifecycles and recovering materials, we reduce the demand for virgin timber harvesting significantly.
Pallet waste is one of the largest contributors to landfill volume. We keep millions of pounds out every year.
Recycling instead of manufacturing new pallets from raw materials cuts carbon emissions substantially.
Nearly everything from a pallet can be reused, repurposed, or recycled. We make sure it is, every time.
From Collection to New Life
A five-step process designed to extract maximum value from every pallet while minimizing environmental impact at every stage. Nothing goes to waste.
Collection & Pickup
We pick up end-of-life pallets from your facility on a schedule that works for your operations. Our fleet of flatbed trucks and trailers handles pickups of any size, from a single truckload to multiple daily collections for high-volume facilities. We coordinate with your receiving team to minimize disruption and can work around your busiest hours.
Flexible scheduling: daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or on-demand.
Sorting & Assessment
Every pallet is individually assessed and sorted into categories based on its condition and best possible next use. Pallets that can be repaired are separated from those destined for dismantling and material recovery. This careful sorting ensures maximum value extraction from every unit and prevents reusable pallets from being needlessly destroyed.
Approximately 45% of pallets we collect are sorted for repair and reuse.
Dismantling & Component Recovery
Pallets beyond repair are carefully dismantled using a combination of automated equipment and skilled hands. Nails, staples, and other metal fasteners are extracted and collected for metal recycling. Lumber is sorted by species, dimension, and condition. Usable boards and stringers are recovered for pallet repair and new construction.
We recover usable lumber from 80% of dismantled pallets.
Repair & Refurbishment
Repairable pallets receive new boards, re-nailing, and structural reinforcement. Our repair team replaces broken deck boards with matching lumber, resets loose fasteners, and rebuilds damaged stringers. The goal is to restore each pallet to a marketable grade while using as much original material as possible.
Refurbished pallets are graded and returned to the supply chain.
Material Repurposing
Wood that cannot be used in pallets is processed into secondary products: landscape mulch, industrial wood chips, biomass fuel for energy generation, and animal bedding. Metal fasteners go to metal recyclers. Nothing that enters our facility goes to a landfill. This is the final step in our zero-waste commitment.
95% of all materials are recovered and given a productive second life.
We Accept Every Pallet Type
Almost every pallet material can be recycled to some degree. Here is what we accept and the material recovery rates we achieve for each type.
Wood Pallets (All Types)
98%Hardwood and softwood pallets of any size, condition, or age. Standard GMA, Euro, custom, and oversized. This is the bulk of what we process and where our recycling capabilities truly shine.
Plastic Pallets
92%HDPE, polypropylene, and other thermoplastic pallets. Damaged plastic pallets are ground into regrind pellets and sold to manufacturers for new plastic product production.
Broken & Damaged Pallets
95%Pallets with broken stringers, missing boards, split components, or structural failure. We dismantle these for usable lumber and process the rest into mulch or biomass.
Pallet Components
90%Individual boards, stringers, blocks, and hardware. If you have pallet components rather than complete units, we still accept and recycle them through our material recovery process.
Heat-Treated Pallets
98%ISPM 15 compliant pallets that have reached end of life. Fully recyclable through our standard wood recycling process with no special handling required.
Contaminated Pallets
85%Pallets with chemical spills, oil stains, or other contamination. These cannot be resold for food or general use but can be safely processed for biomass fuel or industrial mulch applications.
Recycling vs. Landfill Disposal
The choice between recycling and disposal has far-reaching consequences for your costs, your environmental impact, and your legal compliance.
Recycling with Pallets Eco
- Recovers up to 95% of materials for productive reuse
- Often free or revenue-generating for your business
- Creates jobs and supports the circular economy
- Reduces demand for virgin timber by thousands of trees
- Lowers greenhouse gas emissions measurably
- Provides documented sustainability metrics for ESG reporting
- Fully compliant with environmental regulations
- Enhances your corporate sustainability credentials
- Reduces your total waste management costs
- Contributes to zero-waste operational goals
Landfill Disposal
- 100% of materials wasted permanently in the ground
- Costs your business money in disposal and hauling fees
- Contributes to landfill overflow and capacity problems
- Increases demand for harvesting new raw timber
- Releases methane as wood slowly decomposes underground
- Provides no sustainability data for reporting
- May violate state waste diversion mandates
- Damages your environmental reputation with stakeholders
- Increases total waste management expenses year over year
- Contradicts corporate sustainability commitments
What Your Pallets Become
Every material recovered from pallet recycling finds a productive second life. Here is the breakdown of what comes out of our recycling process.
Refurbished Pallets
The highest-value outcome. Repairable pallets are restored to Grade A, B, or C condition and returned to the commercial pallet supply chain for continued use. This extends the average pallet lifecycle by 3-5 additional use cycles.
Landscape Mulch
Clean, untreated wood is ground into premium landscape mulch sold to landscaping companies, garden centers, municipalities, and homeowners. Our mulch meets all state regulations for residential and commercial use.
Industrial Wood Chips
Wood processed into uniform chips used in paper manufacturing, composite board production, and industrial applications. A high-demand secondary product that creates value from otherwise waste material.
Biomass Fuel
Wood that cannot be used for other purposes is processed into biomass fuel pellets and chips for renewable energy generation. This replaces fossil fuels and generates clean electricity at biomass power plants.
Animal Bedding
Clean, kiln-dried wood shavings produced from untreated pallet lumber. Used as bedding material for livestock and equestrian operations. A natural, biodegradable product with strong market demand.
Recycled Metal
Nails, staples, and other metal fasteners are extracted during dismantling and sent to metal recycling facilities. Steel and other metals are melted down and remanufactured into new metal products.
Certified, Compliant, Credible
We back up our environmental claims with recognized certifications, regulatory compliance, and transparent operational practices.
SFI Certified (Sustainable Forestry Initiative)
Our operations meet SFI standards for responsible forestry and sourcing practices. We prioritize recycled and reclaimed wood to reduce demand on forests and support sustainable timber management.
FSC Chain of Custody
Our FSC Chain of Custody certification ensures traceability of wood products through our supply chain. Customers can verify that wood materials entering our facility are tracked and responsibly managed.
EPA Compliance
Full compliance with all federal EPA regulations governing wood waste processing, air emissions, stormwater management, and chemical handling. Regular audits ensure continuous compliance.
State Environmental Permits
All required state environmental permits for wood processing, recycling, and material recovery operations are maintained across every facility we operate in our 10-state service area.
ISPM 15 Certified
Our heat treatment facility is certified to process wood packaging materials according to ISPM 15 standards, ensuring compliance for international shipping and export requirements.
Zero Waste to Landfill
Our operational commitment to zero waste to landfill means that 100% of materials entering our facilities are recycled, repurposed, or converted to energy. No pallet waste goes to a landfill.
On-Site Recycling for Large Facilities
For facilities generating 5,000 or more pallets per month, we offer dedicated on-site recycling programs. We place our equipment and trained personnel directly at your location, processing pallets in real-time as they become available.
On-site programs eliminate the need to store and transport large volumes of end-of-life pallets, freeing up valuable floor space and reducing your total waste management costs.
Pallet Management Programs
Our comprehensive pallet management program goes beyond recycling. We manage your entire pallet lifecycle from procurement to end-of-life, providing complete visibility and optimization.
Recurring Pickup Schedules
Regular collections on a timeline that matches your pallet generation rate. Daily, weekly, or bi-weekly options.
Sorting & Grading
We sort incoming pallets by condition and route them to the highest-value outcome: repair, resale, or recycling.
Pallet Flow Tracking
Digital tracking of pallet volumes, grades, and destinations. Know exactly where your pallets go and what they become.
Sustainability Reporting
Detailed monthly reports with environmental metrics: trees saved, CO2 reduced, landfill diverted, materials recovered.
Cost Optimization
Continuous analysis of your pallet operations to identify savings opportunities and improve material recovery rates.
Dedicated Account Management
A single point of contact who understands your business, your goals, and your sustainability commitments.
How We Helped Cascade Consumer Products Achieve Zero-Waste Pallet Operations
The Challenge: Cascade Consumer Products, a large CPG manufacturer in the Pacific Northwest, was generating 15,000 end-of-life pallets per month. Their existing waste contractor was sending 100% to landfill at a cost of $12 per pallet, totaling $180,000 annually. Their corporate sustainability team had committed to zero-waste operations within 18 months.
The Solution: Pallets Eco implemented an on-site recycling program with dedicated sorting personnel, a bi-weekly pickup schedule for processed materials, and a pallet management system that tracked every unit from arrival to final destination. We designed custom sorting protocols for their specific pallet mix (60% GMA softwood, 25% custom hardwood, 15% damaged/mixed).
The Result: Within 6 months, Cascade achieved 100% landfill diversion for all pallet waste. Of the 15,000 monthly pallets, 42% were repaired and resold (generating revenue), 35% were dismantled for lumber recovery, and 23% were processed into mulch and biomass fuel. Total annual cost savings were $156,000, and their sustainability team had the documented metrics they needed for corporate ESG reporting.
Environmental Reporting for Your Business
We do not just recycle your pallets. We document exactly what happened and what difference it made. Every recycling program participant receives detailed sustainability reports that you can use directly in your ESG disclosures, CSR reporting, sustainability audits, and stakeholder communications.
Our reports include total pallets processed, material recovery breakdown by destination, estimated trees saved, CO2 emissions avoided, landfill diversion weight, and year-over-year trending to show continuous improvement.
Start Your Recycling ProgramFrequently Asked Questions
Does pallet recycling cost me anything?
In most cases, no. For standard wood pallets in decent condition, our recycling service is free because we recover value from the materials. For large volumes of repairable pallets, we may actually pay you for your pallet stream (essentially our buying service). For heavily contaminated or non-standard pallets that require special handling, there may be a small processing fee. We will be transparent about costs during our initial assessment.
What is the environmental benefit of recycling pallets vs. sending them to a landfill?
The impact is substantial. A single standard GMA pallet contains approximately 10-12 board feet of lumber. Recycling that pallet saves the equivalent wood from 0.02 trees, prevents approximately 3.5 pounds of CO2 emissions, and diverts 35-45 pounds from landfill. Scale that across the 500,000+ pallets we process monthly, and you can see why pallet recycling is one of the most impactful sustainability actions a business can take.
Can you provide sustainability reports for our ESG reporting?
Absolutely. We provide detailed monthly or quarterly sustainability reports to all recycling program participants. These reports include total pallets processed, material recovery breakdown, estimated trees saved, CO2 emissions avoided, landfill diversion weight, and other metrics that feed directly into your ESG, CSR, and sustainability reporting frameworks.
Do you offer on-site recycling for large facilities?
Yes. For facilities generating 5,000+ pallets per month, we can set up dedicated on-site recycling programs. These include placing our sorting equipment and trained personnel at your facility to process pallets in real-time, eliminating storage issues and transportation costs. We manage the entire program, and you receive regular sustainability and financial reports.
What happens to pallets that contain chemicals or contaminants?
Contaminated pallets are segregated and processed through a separate stream. They cannot be resold for food-contact or general commercial use, but the wood can be safely processed into biomass fuel for energy generation at facilities with appropriate emission controls. Chemical containers and heavily contaminated material are disposed of according to EPA regulations. We maintain full documentation of contaminated material handling.
How does your pallet management program work for recurring customers?
Our pallet management program is a comprehensive, ongoing service. We set up a regular pickup schedule, provide sorting and tracking systems, monitor your pallet flow data, and optimize the program over time to maximize material recovery and minimize your costs. Customers receive a dedicated account manager, monthly reporting, and quarterly business reviews to continuously improve the program.
Start Recycling Your Pallets Today
Ready to turn pallet waste into environmental impact? Tell us about your recycling needs and we will design a program tailored to your operation.