Sell your plastic pallets
Send the count, the size and the ZIP. The desk reads the lot the way a buyer does and rules it sold, returned or scrapped before anyone drives out.
Four doors from pile to ruling
Count it
Count pallets or count stacks. Say which. A lot of 40 and a lot of 4,000 are read the same way, and the count goes first because it sets how the dock is planned.
Check the marks
Walk the stacks. Look at deck corners, long sides and feet for a name, a stencil or an RFID panel. How to check for markings shows where.
Sort the pile
Put size, style, grade, marks and ZIP into the pile sorter. It rules SOLD, RETURN or SCRAP and gives the reason in one line.
Send the lot
The sorter hands its result to the lot form with every field filled in. Add a name, a phone and an email. The desk answers on the lot itself.
What the desk reads in every lot
A buyer does not look at a pile and see pallets. A buyer sees five facts, in a fixed order. Size comes first because it decides which truck and which customer the pallets suit. Style comes second because it fixes the load rating. Grade, branding and location follow.
| Read | What the desk looks at | Where it is explained |
|---|---|---|
| Size | The footprint on the deck, in inches. Most lots are 48 x 40, the GMA pallet. | Sizes we take |
| Style | Nestable, rackable, stackable, one-way and the rest. The style sets the rating. | Styles |
| Grade | New, like new, used and clean, repaired, or mixed. Broken decks are scrap. | Grades |
| Branding | Any pool name, logo or RFID panel. A mark can mean the pallets are not yours. | Pool-marked pallets |
| Location | The ZIP where the pallets sit, and how the dock can be reached. | Sell by state |
Three endings for a plastic pallet
Every plastic pallet on your dock ends one of three ways. The desk names the ending before it names anything else.
A whole pallet with nobody else's name on it. Buyers reuse it, so the lot has a buyer.
A pallet with a pool name, logo or RFID tag. It belongs to the pool, so it goes back to the owner, not to a buyer.
A cracked, burnt or crushed deck. It is ground into regrind and sold by weight to a recycler.
Ways to sell, by what you have
- Where to sellYour outlets side by side
- Who buys plastic palletsBuyer types and what each takes
- We buy plastic palletsSend the lot to this desk
- Plastic pallet buyersHow to judge any buyer
- BuybackA standing outlet for repeat surplus
- Surplus lotsOverstock and cancelled orders
- LiquidationClosings, moves, whole docks
- Pallet removalGet them off the dock
- Pallet pickupWhat we ask about the dock
- What a lot is worth looking atNo prices, only the factors
Words you will hear on the dock
Plastic pallets have their own trade words. Each one below is named, then said plainly.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| GMA pallet | The 48 x 40 inch North American footprint, the size most lots are. |
| HDPE | High-density polyethylene, resin code 2. The most common pallet resin and what scrap decks are ground from. |
| PP | Polypropylene. Stiffer than HDPE and often used in rackable pallets. |
| Nestable | Empty pallets sit inside one another, so a lot is counted in stacks. |
| Closed loop | Pallets that move between known sites and come back. If your loop made them, they are yours to sell. |
| Captive pallet | A pallet owned and kept inside one company: the opposite of a pooled one. |
| Pooling | Renting pallets from a company that owns, tracks and collects them. Pooled pallets are never the holder's to sell. |
| RFID | A tag moulded into some pallets so the owner can track them. A tagged pallet usually has an owner. |
| One-way pallet | A cheaper pallet shipped with the load and not expected back. Often sold on as a used lot. |
| Welding repair | How cracked plastic is fixed. Repaired pallets are graded apart from sound ones. |
| Regrind | Plastic ground from broken pallets, bought by weight by recyclers. |
| Resin identification code | The number moulded on a part for its resin. It names the resin; it does not say the part is recyclable. |
Do I have to know every detail before I send a lot?
No. Send what you can see: a count, a size, whether the decks are whole, and the ZIP. Say "not sure" where you are not. The desk would rather read a rough lot than wait for a perfect one.
What if some pallets have a name on them and some do not?
Sort them into two piles before you send. Unmarked pallets can be read as a sale. Marked pallets are the pool's, and the desk will say so. Keeping the piles apart makes both answers faster.
Does the desk state a price?
Not on this site. The offer depends on what the lot turns out to be, so the desk reads the lot first. Nothing here quotes a minimum, a price or a turnaround.
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.
- Plastic recyclers and pallet makers
- Buy broken pallets by weight as HDPE or PP feedstock; want clean, sorted, separated by resin and colour.
- Plants changing packaging or pallet size
- Retire a whole stock of one footprint at once; want it sold or ground up, not landfilled.
What the sources say
- A Nelson 48 x 40 x 4.8 in nestable, stackable, rackable polypropylene pallet weighs 18.0 lb with ratings of 10,500 lb static, 3,100 lb dynamic and 2,700 lb racking, and is listed as ISPM 15 exempt. (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)
- 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)
- A used Nelson 48 x 40 x 6.3 in HDPE one-piece pallet weighs 49 lb with 30,000 lb static, 5,000 lb dynamic and 2,200 lb racking ratings. (nelsoncompany.com)
- Resin identification codes do not indicate whether a product is recyclable; ASTM D7611 governs the coding. (en.wikipedia.org)
- Rehrig Pacific's heavy-duty nestable can be made with post-consumer or post-industrial recycled material, up to 30 percent in black and up to 10 percent in colour, and is RFID compatible. (rehrigpacific.com)
- That Nelson model lists about 60 pallets per stack and 1,800 per truck. (nelsoncompany.com)
- Rehrig Pacific's 40 x 48 rackable pallet weighs 44.2 lb with a dynamic rating of 4,000 lb, static 10,000 lb and edge rack 2,000 lb. (rehrigpacific.com)
- Rehrig Pacific's 40 x 48 rackable pallet is high-pressure injection molded co-polymer polypropylene, with 540 per 53 ft trailer. (rehrigpacific.com)
- Rehrig Pacific's 40 x 48 standard-duty nestable pallet weighs 26.5 lb with a static rating of 10,000 lb and dynamic 3,000 lb. (rehrigpacific.com)
- Pallet capacities are issued by the manufacturer from calculation and lab or field tests, and assume an evenly distributed load. (nelsoncompany.com)
- Advanced composite material pallets are 100 percent recycled polyolefins, cheaper with a shorter life, and suit export where the pallet is not returned. (nelsoncompany.com)
- North American plastic pallets in the common sizes are about 5 to 6 in tall. (blog.containerexchanger.com)
- Rehrig Pacific's 40 x 48 heavy-duty nestable pallet is 48.25 x 40.25 x 6.5 in, weighs 28.5 lb, is rated 10,000 lb static and 3,500 lb dynamic, has a 2.55 in nest increment and 1,200 units per 53 ft trailer; the page lists no racking rating. (rehrigpacific.com)
- Rehrig Pacific offers the standard-duty nestable with recycled content of up to 90 percent in black, and describes it as 100 percent recyclable. (rehrigpacific.com)
- Only pallets designed for unsupported racking carry a racking rating. (nelsoncompany.com)
- Nelson Company: sell used pallets
- Nelson Company: common plastic pallet sizes
- Nelson Company: what material is used for plastic pallets
Keep reading
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.