Pallet recycling for the Oklahoma City metro

Four things happen to a core

A core is a used pallet recovered for repair, resale, remanufacturing or recycling. Each one is looked at and routed.

A combo pallet is the end of one such path, rebuilt from a mix of recycled and new lumber.

Getting on a schedule

A dock that sheds pallets every week gains from a rhythm. The request describes the rhythm: pallets per cycle, sizes, the share that is sound, the dock hours and the town or ZIP. See recurring dock pickups for how those details are usually written, and pallet cores for the recycler's view.

The metro's recycling streams

Most pallets headed for recycling in the metro come from distribution and manufacturing. Greater Oklahoma City has more than 156 million square feet of rentable industrial building area and two Class I railroads, Union Pacific and BNSF; that scale of industrial floor space generates a lot of used wood. Chickasha adds a rail-served industrial park of 240 acres, and Shawnee has more than 70 manufacturers.

Inland, the biggest practical difference is distance. A recycler decides what is worth a trip based on the count and on how far the pile is from I-35, I-40 or I-44. The towns the metro request covers are listed under counties and towns.

Wet wood, mould and the spring

Oklahoma City's wettest month is May, averaging about 5.3 inches, and severe weather peaks in April and May. A pile that sat uncovered through it may be heavy and grey. Wood below 20% moisture content will not support mould; above it, mould and decay set in. Tell the recycler if your pile was wet, because it moves a pile toward grinding. The moisture guide explains how to read it.

What recycling does with a pallet

A recycler sorts incoming pallets into three streams. Sound pallets are repaired or resold. Pallets that are broken but contain good boards are taken apart, and the boards are used to build or repair other pallets. What remains is ground into mulch, animal bedding or boiler fuel. Because of that last stream, almost any wood pallet has some recoverable value, though plastic, metal and heavily contaminated pallets are a different matter.

Contamination decides what can be recycled. Oil, chemicals, paint and food residue can make wood unsuitable for mulch or bedding. Large quantities of nails, strapping or plastic wrap slow sorting. If your pile includes anything unusual, name it, since a recycler needs to know before sending a truck.

Recycling suits piles that are mostly broken, wet or old. If most of the pallets are sound, selling them as sorted stock usually makes more sense than breaking them apart.

Questions, answered

Where to next

• Pallet cores: what they are and how to sell them
• Plugs, plates and repairs