Guides · Selling a mixed lot
Selling a mixed lot of plastic pallets
Sort a mixed lot by footprint first, then pull out the marked and the broken. What remains is a used lot a buyer can read.
Last reviewed November 12, 2026
Four sorting passes
Marks pass
Walk every stack and pull anything with a name, logo, tag or panel into the marked lane.
Break pass
Pull cracked, chipped or crushed pallets into the broken lane. Put repaired ones in a lane of their own.
Size pass
Measure and group by footprint. Write the size on a card.
Style pass
Within each footprint, group nestable from rackable from stackable.
How a buyer sees a mixed lot
A lot of many makers and colours is not worse for being mixed. It is harder to read. One buyer states it wants consistent sizes and types rather than mixed loads, and requires structurally sound pallets. Another says it takes pallets in reusable condition. The sort is what lets a mixed lot find a buyer who prefers uniform lots, one pile at a time.
A split to send
| Footprint | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 48 x 40 | Largest pile | Mixed makers |
| 42 x 42 | Second pile | One maker |
| Other | A few | Describe in message |
The form fields this guide fills
- Pallet size (Mixed sizes)
- Condition
- Branding
How this guide ends
SOLD
Whole piles sorted by footprint sell.
RETURN
Marked piles go back.
SCRAP
Broken piles are scrap.
Do buyers take mixed sizes and colours?
Many do, once sorted by footprint. Say it is mixed.
Will a buyer take broken plastic pallets with the good ones?
Some take them as scrap. Others count only the sound ones. Keep the broken in a pile of their own.
Words you will meet
- Nest increment
- How much height each extra nested pallet adds to a stack.
- Nest ratio
- How many empty pallets fit in the height of one.
- Closed loop
- Pallets that travel between known sites and come back, so they are never lost to a downstream user.
- One-way pallet
- A cheaper pallet shipped with the load and not expected back.
- Static load
- Weight a pallet carries at rest, or the bottom pallet carries when stacked. The highest of the three ratings.
- Dynamic load
- Weight a pallet carries while moving on a forklift, pallet jack or conveyor.
- 4-way entry
- Forks or a jack can enter from all four sides.
- Rackable
- Rated to sit on rack beams, with a stated racking load.
- Fork pocket
- Opening in the pallet where the forks go.
- Heat treated (HT)
- ISPM 15 treatment for wood: core at 56 C for 30 minutes. Not needed for plastic.
- RFID
- Radio tag moulded or fixed into a pallet so it can be tracked.
- FM 4996
- FM Approvals standard that rates a pallet as equal to wood in fire tests.
- Injection moulding
- Pallet made by forcing molten resin into a mould at high pressure.
- CP9
- A chemical-industry pallet standard, 1140 x 1140 mm.
- Regrind
- Plastic ground from used or scrap parts into flakes for moulding again.
- Virgin resin
- New, unblended resin that has not been through a product before.
Who asks, and what they need
- Distribution centres with surplus pallets
- Sell or recycle excess lots, mixed makers and colours, broken pallets.
- Plants changing packaging or pallet size
- Retire a whole stock of one footprint at once; want it sold or ground up, not landfilled.
- Plastic recyclers and pallet makers
- Buy broken pallets by weight as HDPE or PP feedstock; want clean, sorted, separated by resin and colour.
What the sources say
- California 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. (palletenterprise.com)
- Port Houston's public terminals handled 4,303,345 TEUs in 2025 (up 4 percent, a record) and 54,491,066 short tons of cargo; the Houston Ship Channel is described as the nation's largest port for waterborne tonnage, with more than 200 private and eight public terminals. (porthouston.com)
- Rehrig 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. (rehrigpacific.com)
- That used pallet is listed as pharma and food safe but not approved for direct food contact, in colours that vary. (nelsoncompany.com)
- Plastic pallets can deform (creep) under heavy long-term loads and are hard to repair. (en.wikipedia.org)
- ISO 6780 lists 1016 x 1219 mm for North America, 1000 x 1200 mm for Europe and Asia and 800 x 1200 mm for Europe. (en.wikipedia.org)
- NFPA requires wood and plastic pallets to be stored outdoors or in a detached structure unless sprinklers protect them. (en.wikipedia.org)
- For products touching the pallet directly, stricter federal requirements may call for non-blended virgin HDPE; recycled pallets often meet general FDA needs. (nelsoncompany.com)
- HDPE 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.org)
- In 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). (resource-recycling.com)
- Rehrig Pacific says its reusable products are designed to be recyclable at end of life and run a buyback program. (rehrigpacific.com)
- North American plastic pallets in the common sizes are about 5 to 6 in tall. (blog.containerexchanger.com)
- 48 x 48 plastic pallets hold four 55-gallon drums without overhang; 48 x 45 matches North American auto parts bulk containers. (nelsoncompany.com)
- PHS lists its EXP 100 nestable (48 x 40 x 5.2 in) at 78 pallets per stack and 2,340 per truckload, and its EXP 116 (48 x 40 x 5.75 in, 15,000 lb static) at 40 per stack and 1,260 per truckload: a higher static rating comes with fewer pallets per stack. (phsinc.com)
- Counties with the most private warehousing and storage jobs (NAICS 493) in 2025, BLS QCEW: San Bernardino County, California (67,058), Riverside County, California (51,310), Dallas County, Texas (44,657), Maricopa County, Arizona (42,291), San Joaquin County, California (28,518), Clark County, Nevada (28,250), Middlesex County, New Jersey (26,309), Will County, Illinois (25,357). (data.bls.gov)
- Refrigerated warehouse facility counts on October 1, 2025 (USDA NASS): California 106, Wisconsin 94, Georgia 62, Texas 56, Washington 52, Florida 50, Pennsylvania 38. (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
Keep reading
Receiving desk
Send the lot
Size, count, grade, branding and ZIP. Photos help, and you can reply to the first answer with them. This site states no price or pickup date.