CHEP plastic pallets: whose they are

What the courts and the press have said

In 2011 a Quebec court ruled that CHEP's identified blue pallets belong to CHEP and cannot be sold. A 2024 trade article reports that CHEP USA sued two California recyclers over CHEP-marked pallets they would not return, and that a Los Angeles court granted CHEP's motion to retrieve pallets in one case. The same article says the law on strays leaves open how fast an owner must act and what records a holder should keep.

Owner

CHEP

Your status

A holder of CHEP pallets

The ruling

RETURN

What you keep

A count, photos of the marks, the date and the source

Four things to do

1. 1

   Do not sell, scrap or give away

   Not even a few. A few becomes a stack.

2. 2

   Separate the stacks

   Put marked pallets in their own lane on the dock, away from pallets you own.

3. 3

   Record

   Count, photograph the marks, note the date, note which delivery they came with.

4. 4

   Tell the owner

   CHEP return lists what to give them. Let them collect.

A word on plastic and wood

This desk deals in plastic pallets only. A CHEP name on a wood pallet is not our lot. For plastic pallets with a CHEP mark the ruling is the same as for iGPS pallets: the pool owns them.

Resin and tags are not proof of ownership either way. A resin identification code on a part names the resin; it does not name the owner or say the part is recyclable. Look for the owner's mark, not the resin number.

Words you will meet

Resin identification code

Number on a plastic part for the resin, which does not itself say whether it is recyclable.

Heat treated (HT)

ISPM 15 treatment for wood: core at 56 C for 30 minutes. Not needed for plastic.

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.

Virgin resin

New, unblended resin that has not been through a product before.

Open deck

Top deck with gaps between slats or ribs; lighter and drains.

4-way entry

Forks or a jack can enter from all four sides.

Stackable

Loaded pallets can sit on top of each other, up to the static rating.

Fork pocket

Opening in the pallet where the forks go.

One-way pallet

A cheaper pallet shipped with the load and not expected back.

Creep

Slow bending of plastic under a heavy load held for a long time.

Structural foam

Low-pressure moulding where a blowing agent expands the resin in the mould.

Compression moulding

Moulding by pressing resin in a closed mould; one of six processes in use.

CP9

A chemical-industry pallet standard, 1140 x 1140 mm.

Edge rack

Resting on the rack beams by the pallet's edges only, with no support in the middle.

Closed deck

Solid top deck with no gaps; keeps small items from falling through.

Who asks, and what they need

Retailers that collect pooled or one-way pallets

Stacks of marked and unmarked pallets left by suppliers; need to know which can be sold and which belong to a pool.

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

• CHEP USA sued two California recyclers over CHEP-marked pallets they would not return; a Los Angeles court granted CHEP's motion to retrieve pallets in one case (article dated February 1, 2024). (palletenterprise.com)
• In 2011 a Quebec court ruled that CHEP's identified blue pallets belong to CHEP and cannot be sold. (palletenterprise.com)
• 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)
• In December 2011 a Los Angeles County Sheriff task force recovered over $250,000 of illegally obtained plastic pallets, including iGPS pallets, from a plastic recycler. (eponline.com)
• Counties with the most private pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3254) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Lake County, Illinois (16,883), Marion County, Indiana (16,292), Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (11,878), Suffolk County, New York (10,760), Los Angeles County, California (8,300), San Diego County, California (8,028). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private motor vehicle manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3361) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Wayne County, Michigan (24,188), Bexar County, Texas (6,165), Cook County, Illinois (5,473), Eaton County, Michigan (4,432), Oakland County, Michigan (735), Los Angeles County, California (643). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private dairy product manufacturing jobs (NAICS 3115) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Sheboygan County, Wisconsin (3,238), Los Angeles County, California (3,204), Franklin County, Ohio (2,930), Tulare County, California (2,916), Dodge County, Wisconsin (2,659), Marathon County, Wisconsin (2,535). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private fruit and vegetable preserving jobs (NAICS 3114) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Los Angeles County, California (3,695), Stanislaus County, California (3,669), Fresno County, California (3,355), Cook County, Illinois (2,861), Franklin County, Washington (2,520), Marion County, Oregon (2,273). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private grocery and related product wholesale jobs (NAICS 4244) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Los Angeles County, California (36,194), Cook County, Illinois (23,404), Miami-Dade County, Florida (14,422), Harris County, Texas (14,172), Dallas County, Texas (12,337), Maricopa County, Arizona (9,996). (data.bls.gov)
• Counties with the most private refrigerated warehousing jobs (NAICS 49312) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Los Angeles County, California (2,320), Middlesex County, New Jersey (1,661), San Bernardino County, California (1,565), Cook County, Illinois (1,552), Wayne County, Michigan (1,041), Maricopa County, Arizona (871). (data.bls.gov)
• An ICC article says unlisted plastic pallets may require raising the commodity hazard class by two classes, and gives an example needing about 55 percent more sprinkler water. (iccsafe.org)
• Port of Los Angeles handled 9,447,731 TEUs from January through November 2025, 1 percent more than the same months of 2024; its executive director called 2025 firmly a top-three year in the port's history. (portoflosangeles.org)
• Georgia Ports Authority moved 5.7 million TEUs in fiscal year 2025 (July 2024 to June 2025), up 8.6 percent or 450,000 TEUs, the Port of Savannah's second-busiest year after 5.76 million in FY2022. (container-news.com)
• Counties with the most private meat and poultry processing jobs (NAICS 3116) in 2025, BLS QCEW, counties with disclosed data only: Hall County, Georgia (11,123), Cook County, Illinois (8,367), Sussex County, Delaware (8,212), Marshall County, Alabama (7,387), Fresno County, California (6,499), Douglas County, Nebraska (6,452). (data.bls.gov)
• The 48 x 40 in GMA pallet makes up about 30 percent of new US wood pallets. (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)

• Pallet Enterprise: CHEP and the California recyclers
• Pallet Enterprise: Quebec court ruling on CHEP pallets
• EP Online: plastics theft task force

Keep reading

• Pool-marked
• iGPS
• CHEP return