Good day all,

I am the environment manager for the printers at which I work. We do hold the ISO14001. My situation is that we have all our paper delivered on wooden pallets the majority of which are printer pallets. These printer pallets are of no use as far as I can see outside of the printing industry which leads ourselves to having a huge pile of broken pallets outside in our front car park.

I am aware that the disposal of wood to landfill is problematic. Its bulky mass makes it difficult to compact plus the high carbon and nitrogen content of wood means decomposition is slow, even in the most amenable conditions. Once the material starts to decompose, large void spaces can result in landfill subsidence. Waste timber can contribute to gas generation in landfill and wood treated with preservatives...

I am also aware that wood is a recyclable product and it drives me nuts to think that I have to pay good money to have these sent to a land fill......:bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk:

Please does anybody have any suggestions on how to help... They would be most welcome and a round of :applause:would be forthcoming...

For a long time, ours went to a local job center for the disabled, where they refurbished and resold them. Is there anything like that where you are? I think that now the center has been closed and we actually send them off to someone who rebuilds and sells them. I think they pay to truck them. Anything that is beyond salvaging is used by a local company who chips them.

Good day all,

I am the environment manager for the printers at which I work. We do hold the ISO14001. My situation is that we have all our paper delivered on wooden pallets the majority of which are printer pallets. These printer pallets are of no use as far as I can see outside of the printing industry which leads ourselves to having a huge pile of broken pallets outside in our front car park.

I am aware that the disposal of wood to landfill is problematic. Its bulky mass makes it difficult to compact plus the high carbon and nitrogen content of wood means decomposition is slow, even in the most amenable conditions. Once the material starts to decompose, large void spaces can result in landfill subsidence. Waste timber can contribute to gas generation in landfill and wood treated with preservatives...

I am also aware that wood is a recyclable product and it drives me nuts to think that I have to pay good money to have these sent to a land fill......:bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk:

Please does anybody have any suggestions on how to help... They would be most welcome and a round of :applause:would be forthcoming...

I too faced similar problem so I shifted to "Angle Iron Pellets" in stead of wooden ones. I do not weld them but join them with nuts & bolts, which makes assemby & dis-assembly very easy. At the customer end it is a value added product since the Angle Iron is saleable.

Hope this helps.

Umang :D

I've seen a company that uses a large shredder and a electro-magnet system (remove nails) and turns them into mulch. You might try finding a similar company near you.

This is officially my first post, although I've been reading and learning for about a month. Never thought I would help respond to a question before I asked at least 100 myself!

Anyway, try craigslist.org. You can post items for free (or for sale) based on your location. Seems to work very well, especially for free items. I just moved from Arizona to Pennsylvania and people always had free pallets to give away on that site, and they were always taken. It's nice, too, because they will come to your location!

And no, I am not in any way affiliated with craigslist.org.

This is officially my first post, although I've been reading and learning for about a month. Never thought I would help respond to a question before I asked at least 100 myself!

Anyway, try craigslist.org. You can post items for free (or for sale) based on your location. Seems to work very well, especially for free items. I just moved from Arizona to Pennsylvania and people always had free pallets to give away on that site, and they were always taken. It's nice, too, because they will come to your location!

And no, I am not in any way affiliated with craigslist.org.

Welcome to the Cove :bigwave:

That's a good suggestion. I wasn't sure whether Craigslist was available in the UK, where the OP is posting from, but sure enough (http://london.craigslist.co.uk/).

Update on my previous post, now that it is illegal to send these to the landfill ...... we now have to pay to send our pallets to be recycled.:lol: Funny isn't it how as soon as you have no more choices, suddenly you end up paying for things people used to take for free.:notme:

FWIW:
20 years ago, one of my customers was ahead of the wave on "green" and dictated packing materials be recyclable. We worked in collaboration with the customer and found a supplier who made custom collapsible crates. We used our original custom foam layers (with exact shape [of the piece part] cutouts) similar to egg cartons to protect the delicate parts in transit. Each crate held exactly the number of pieces used by an operator per shift in assembling the customer's product.

When the crate was empty, it was collapsed and stacked. The foam inserts were compressed flat and banded. Each month, customer would return crates and foam inserts to us and we would refill and reship. Even including cost of return shipping, handling, and expense of custom crates, including replacement of damaged ones, we calculated the net cost of packaging over a one year period was less than 75% of our original one-time disposable packaging. It was really a win-win outcome.

Some wooden pallets manufacturers disasemble broken/old pallets and recycle the wood still in good condition taken from them. I have seen that pallets that incoporate recycled wood to some degree are sold at a cheaper price than brand new pallets, so the answer is yes, there is a sector that can make bussines from them.

:topic:Here in the Chicago area, we have been having a big problem with a "hitchhiker" that came in on wooden pallets from China -the Emerald Ash Borer
http://www.buckeyediamond.com/includes/NWPCA_Emerald_Ash_Borer%282%29.pdf

I have no experience exporting to the US but for Australia, the whole container containing the products and pallets will need fumigation. No goods can be unloaded at their ports if not accompanied by a certificate of fumigation.

Coming to the printing pallet issue, why not try plastic pallets made from recycled plastics. Properly handled, they have a long reuse/service life.

Good day all,

I am the environment manager for the printers at which I work. We do hold the ISO14001. My situation is that we have all our paper delivered on wooden pallets the majority of which are printer pallets. These printer pallets are of no use as far as I can see outside of the printing industry which leads ourselves to having a huge pile of broken pallets outside in our front car park.

I am aware that the disposal of wood to landfill is problematic. Its bulky mass makes it difficult to compact plus the high carbon and nitrogen content of wood means decomposition is slow, even in the most amenable conditions. Once the material starts to decompose, large void spaces can result in landfill subsidence. Waste timber can contribute to gas generation in landfill and wood treated with preservatives...

I am also aware that wood is a recyclable product and it drives me nuts to think that I have to pay good money to have these sent to a land fill......:bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk:

Please does anybody have any suggestions on how to help... They would be most welcome and a round of :applause:would be forthcoming...

I'm a scout leader and here in Banbury, Oxfordshire our local scout camp site used to collect old pallets from the local area for use on the camp fires.

However, recently it was discovered that the scouts needed a waste transfer licence to do this, so we no longer take pallets and (presumably) they go to landfill.

Please does anybody have any suggestions on how to help... If they are still usable: Why not do what Wes says, or some variation thereof? Perhaps the supplier could pick them up when new supplies are dropped off?

It was really a win-win outcome.It should be. Mutually beneficial supplier -customer cooperation that also lessens the environmental impact. How could you beat that?

/Claes

One thing to consider is that quite often (more times than not) pallets utilize treated wood (for pests and rot) and as such the wood does contain trace chemicals so it is not always good to grind up for mulch. You may also want to consider storm water run off since trace chemicals are washed off if you store large quantities outside. We have individuals that come around and pick up wood pallets, repair them and resale them back to other companies. You may want to look for a simular party in your area.

I was in the same position as you having been the quality/environnemental manager for an ISO14001 certified printer.

I suggest you put thumb srews on your suplliers until they provide you with reusable/returnable pallets. It worked for us, paper suppliers are very well informed on the necessity of recycling.

Tamale :whip:

In our country such waste is sold at handsome prices since, after shredding or cutting into chips, it can be used as a fuel in furnace/ kilns by replacing part of the fossil fuel which can even generate carbon credits if a sizeable quantity is continuously available for trade.

Based on the feasibility, it would be yet an eco-friendly mode of disposal.

Here in Brazil I have seen less fortunate people using the wood for other things... anywhere from building and selling along side the road dog houses and doll houses. The even less fortunate use the wood to build their own houses.

Here in Brazil I have seen less fortunate people using the wood for other things... anywhere from building and selling along side the road dog houses and doll houses. The even less fortunate use the wood to build their own houses.

Quite innovative, nontraditional, may be cheaper yet eco-friendly.