Sell · off the dock
Pallet removal for plastic pallet lots
Pallet removal means getting the stacks off your dock. With plastic pallets the stacks are worth reading before you pay to move them: many can be sold, and marked ones go back.
Last reviewed November 12, 2026
Do not throw away a sellable lot
A plastic pallet lasts far longer than a wood one: plastic pallets are often described as lasting 100 trips or more. That is why a clean plastic stack should not go to a hauler as trash. Read the lot first.
| Ruling | What leaves the dock | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| SOLD | Whole, unmarked pallets | A buyer who reuses them |
| RETURN | Pool-marked or tagged pallets | The pool owner |
| SCRAP | Cracked, burnt or crushed decks | A recycler, by weight |
What the desk asks before anything moves
- The ZIP and the kind of site: dock, yard, trailer or building.
- How many stacks, and how high they are stacked.
- Whether a truck can get to them: dock height, ground, gate.
- Whether the pallets are wrapped, and whether they are under cover.
- Any pool marks, with photos.
None of that is a promise of removal. It is what the desk needs to say how a lot would be collected. Pallet pickup lists the dock details in full.
Plastic and wood are not the same job
Wood pallet removal is a hauling job. Plastic pallet removal starts with a sorting job. Wood pallets are treated and stamped under ISPM 15 for export; plastic pallets are exempt. This desk handles plastic only. If your stack is mixed with wood, separate it; plastic against wood lots explains why.
Is plastic pallet removal free?
This site does not state who pays or how much. Ask in the form. The answer depends on what the lot turns out to be.
How do I get rid of a stack of plastic pallets?
Count them, check the marks, and send the lot. The desk rules the stack sold, returned or scrapped, then says how it would leave.
What if I only have a few pallets?
Send them anyway. A small lot can still be ruled. Tell us the count.
Words you will meet
- ISPM 15
- The international standard for treating wood packaging against pests. Plastic pallets are outside it.
- 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.
- Thermoforming
- Heated plastic sheet formed over a mould; lighter pallets.
- Welding repair
- Plastic is hard to glue, so cracked parts are normally welded.
- Nest increment
- How much height each extra nested pallet adds to a stack.
- 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.
- Creep
- Slow bending of plastic under a heavy load held for a long time.
- CP9
- A chemical-industry pallet standard, 1140 x 1140 mm.
- Euro pallet
- 800 x 1200 mm footprint.
- Regrind
- Plastic ground from used or scrap parts into flakes for moulding again.
- Static load
- Weight a pallet carries at rest, or the bottom pallet carries when stacked. The highest of the three ratings.
- Racking load
- Weight a pallet carries bridging an open span in unsupported racking. Often the lowest rating.
- Edge rack
- Resting on the rack beams by the pallet's edges only, with no support in the middle.
- Runners
- Bottom rails that touch the floor or rack and carry the load.
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.
- Food and beverage distributors and bottlers
- Clean, odour-free, washable pallets; open or closed deck; 56 x 44 beverage and 48 x 40 sizes; often asks about food-contact paperwork.
What the sources say
- USDA APHIS requires wood packaging material entering the US to be treated and certified under ISPM 15, and lists plastic pallets among alternatives that are not subject to APHIS regulation. (aphis.usda.gov)
- Plastic pallets are often described as lasting 100 trips or more, and can cost roughly 10 times as much as hardwood pallets. (en.wikipedia.org)
- Cabka says plastic export pallets are exempt from ISPM-15 treatment, that there is no single export size, and that its nestable export designs include extra-lightweight and air-freight versions. (cabka.com)
- USDA APHIS lists plastic pallets among products not subject to APHIS regulation, as an alternative to wood packaging material. (aphis.usda.gov)
- Wood packaging material entering the US must be treated and certified per ISPM 15. (aphis.usda.gov)
- 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)
- The five states with the largest gross refrigerated warehouse capacity on October 1, 2025 were California (400 million cubic feet), Georgia (304 million), Washington (301 million), Wisconsin (297 million) and Texas (254 million), per USDA NASS. (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- iGPS announced FM approval in 2008 for its all-plastic RFID-tagged pooled pallet, which had UL 2335 certification from 2007. (freightwaves.com)
- USDA NASS counted 3.99 billion cubic feet of gross refrigerated warehouse capacity in the US on October 1, 2025, with usable capacity of 3.25 billion cubic feet (82 percent of gross). (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- USDA NASS counted 931 refrigerated warehouses on October 1, 2025: 476 public and 455 private or semiprivate. Public warehouses held 2.46 billion gross cubic feet, 62 percent of the total. (esmis.nal.usda.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)
- Pennsylvania had 228 million cubic feet and New Jersey 137 million of gross refrigerated warehouse space on October 1, 2025 (USDA NASS). (esmis.nal.usda.gov)
- 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)
- Port Houston says it supports 1.54 million jobs in Texas and 3.37 million nationwide, and that its 2025 growth included petrochemical and industrial shipments, manufacturing-related freight and consumer imports. (porthouston.com)
- The Northwest Seaport Alliance (Seattle and Tacoma) handled 3,156,598 TEUs of international and domestic containers in 2025, down 5.5 percent from 2024, with full imports down 10.3 percent and full exports down 4.9 percent. (nwseaportalliance.com)
- NFPA requires wood and plastic pallets to be stored outdoors or in a detached structure unless sprinklers protect them. (en.wikipedia.org)
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.