Make Every Pallet Count by Re-Using and Recycling

Recycling is a hot topic these days and there are many ways to contribute to the initiative. But, when it comes to pallets, how does your organization stack up?

Are unused pallets taking up precious floor space in your warehouse? Re-using or recycling your pallets is the solution!

GET THE FACTS

Nature’s Packaging has a great library filled with articles and other material related to wood packaging and recycling. The article entitled “Pallet Re-Use and Recycling Saves High Value Material from Landfills” recently caught our eye. Below is an excerpt from the article.

Pallet re-use and recycling have increased greatly over the past two decades. Despite this, up to 100 million pallets are still landfilled. There is no reason why pallets should end up among municipal solid waste. Many alternative uses for discarded pallets exist besides reuse or recycling back into circulation. Pallets can be used for the production of mulch, animal bedding, or fuel. Or, they can be upcycled into flooring for eco-friendly buildings, furniture, or a variety of other items. To help salvage pallets, the Department of Wood Science and Forest Products (now known as the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials), in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service, Blacksburg Station, has held workshops to teach about pallet recycling. To continue reading the article in full, click here.

TAKE ACTION

To help facilitate the recycling process, there exist several online resources that will pair up those who have pallets with those who need pallets. One such site is the North American Pallet Recycling Network, which directly matches generators and recyclers of pallets.

Of course, Rose Pallet can also assist you in the process. If you have scrap pallets, wood waste, plastic, or cardboard sitting around your facility, consider our drop trailer program. Through this service, we will drop an empty trailer at your location into which you can unload all of your wood or plastic pallet waste. When you reorder pallets, or when you call us to report a full trailer, we can drop/switch the trailers and remove the scrap or waste for recycling. This process eliminates the hassle that comes with having live unloads and ensures you always have a trailer on site for collection purposes.

And, if you’re looking for creative, alternative uses for pallets, we regularly blog on the topic; for more information, check out our previous posts on pallet upcycling.

So, next time you see a pallet lying around, consider re-use, recycling, or upcycling rather than tossing it out with the trash. Every pallet counts! For more information, please contact us.