Where to sell plastic pallets
Plastic pallets can go to a buyer who inspects the lot, to a marketplace where you post a listing, or to a recycler by weight. Which one fits depends on size, grade and marks.
Last reviewed November 12, 2026
Four outlets, side by side
| Outlet | How it works | Best for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| A direct buyer | You describe the lot. The buyer inspects, then confirms the count of pallets it can reuse. | Whole pallets in reusable condition, unmarked | A buyer may count only the pallets it can reuse, and treat chipped or cracked ones as scrap |
| A want-ad marketplace | Buyers post requests by footprint, condition and ZIP radius. You answer one, or post your own sale ad. | Common footprints in steady supply | You list, you wait, and you set the terms yourself |
| A recycler by weight | Broken decks are weighed and ground to regrind. | Cracked, burnt or crushed pallets | Sound pallets in the mix are valued as scrap |
| The pool owner | Marked pallets go back to the company whose mark is on them. | iGPS, CHEP, Orbis and RFID-tagged pallets | Never sell a marked pallet as your own |
Two of these outlets describe themselves publicly. One manufacturer-distributor says it buys used plastic pallets for its own stock, prefers multi-stack quantities supplied on a regular schedule in reusable condition, and treats cracked, chipped or incomplete pallets as scrap. A marketplace lists buyers' requests filterable by footprint, condition and ZIP radius, and leaves the price to the seller. Another buyer's page states its own floor on quantity and asks for consistent sizes. Those are their terms, not this desk's.
How to choose
Is anything marked?
Marked pallets leave the sale pile first. They go to the pool owner. See pool-marked pallets.
Are the decks whole?
Whole decks go toward a reuse buyer. Cracked decks go toward a recycler. Mixed lots are split before they are priced; read damaged pallets in a good lot.
How uniform is it?
One footprint and one style is the easiest lot to place. A mixed lot is still sellable once sorted by footprint; see selling a mixed lot.
Once or every month?
A one-time clearance and a standing supply are different arrangements. One lot or a standing buyback sets them out.
What this desk adds
This desk reads the lot first and tells you the outcome, including the outcomes you may not want to hear. If the pallets are a pool's, you hear that before anything else. If half the lot is cracked, you hear that too. Then the whole lot goes to the form in one piece, so you do not have to describe it twice.
Ruling: whole and unmarked sells. Marked goes back. Broken is scrap.
Can I sell some pallets and scrap the rest?
Yes. A lot is often part reuse and part scrap. Say how many of each and send photos of the worst decks. A buyer then prices each part for what it is.
Do I need to clean the pallets first?
Clean helps, but do not spend a day on it. One manufacturer-distributor says it inspects and cleans every pallet on arrival, so a buyer may handle that step. Remove loose film and labels you can peel.
Is a marketplace listing the same as selling to a buyer?
No. A listing waits for a match and you set the terms. A buyer reads the lot and answers on it. Both are valid; they ask different things of you.
Words you will meet
- 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.
- Dynamic load
- Weight a pallet carries while moving on a forklift, pallet jack or conveyor.
- Nest increment
- How much height each extra nested pallet adds to a stack.
- One-way pallet
- A cheaper pallet shipped with the load and not expected back.
- Euro pallet
- 800 x 1200 mm footprint.
- Recycled-content pallet
- A pallet moulded partly or wholly from post-industrial or post-consumer resin.
- Runners
- Bottom rails that touch the floor or rack and carry the load.
- Lip
- Raised edge on the deck, or an optional soft lip, that keeps the load in place.
- 4-way entry
- Forks or a jack can enter from all four sides.
- Fork pocket
- Opening in the pallet where the forks go.
- 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.
- Rotational moulding
- Resin heated in a rotating mould to make a hollow jointless part.
- CP9
- A chemical-industry pallet standard, 1140 x 1140 mm.
Who asks, and what they need
- 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.
- 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.
What the sources say
- Rehrig Pacific says its reusable products are designed to be recyclable at end of life and run a buyback program. (rehrigpacific.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)
- Wood packaging material entering the US must be treated and certified per ISPM 15. (aphis.usda.gov)
- That Nelson model is under 5 in tall, which the page says suits air freight, and works with automation and most roller conveyors. (nelsoncompany.com)
- The 800 x 1200 mm Euro footprint is the second most popular plastic pallet size worldwide. (blog.containerexchanger.com)
- 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 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)
- That Nelson model lists about 60 pallets per stack and 1,800 per truck. (nelsoncompany.com)
- That nestable has a 2.50 in nest increment and 1,260 units per 53 ft trailer. (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)
- Plastic pallets weigh about 3 to 15 lb when light and up to 300 lb when heavy; a typical GMA wood pallet weighs about 37 lb. (en.wikipedia.org)
- 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)
- 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)
- iGPS announced FM approval in 2008 for its all-plastic RFID-tagged pooled pallet, which had UL 2335 certification from 2007. (freightwaves.com)
- Greystone Logistics processed about 60 million pounds of recycled plastic in the year ended May 31, 2024, using damaged plastic pallets from a buy-back program among its feedstock. (resource-recycling.com)
- 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)
- Nelson Company: sell used pallets
- Container Exchanger: plastic pallets wanted
- Custom Packaging Products: used 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.