Every business that receives freight ends up with pallets it didn’t order. They arrive under the product, the product goes on the shelf, and the pallet goes out back. A few weeks later there’s a wall of them taking up dock space, attracting pests, and creating a fire code problem.
Here are the realistic ways to get rid of pallets, roughly in order from best to worst.
Option 1: Sell them to a pallet recycler
If a meaningful share of your pile is standard 48×40 pallets in reusable or repairable shape, a recycler will pay for them and pick them up. This turns a disposal cost into a small revenue line and it is the option most warehouses should try first.
What you need: a rough count, a location, and ideally stacks sorted by size. Who Buys Used Pallets Near Me? covers what buyers pay and what they’re looking for.
Option 2: Free pickup by a recycler
If the pile is mixed, mostly odd sizes, or mostly broken, a recycler may not pay for it but will often still haul it at no charge because the wood has value as repair stock, mulch, or fiber. For a lot of businesses this is the real answer: no revenue, no cost, and the pallets are gone.
Ask specifically. “Will you take these for free if they’re not worth buying?” is a normal question and most yards will give you a straight answer after seeing the load.
Option 3: Pallet removal service (paid)
Some haulers charge to remove pallets, priced by the load or by the pallet. This makes sense when:
- The material is contaminated (chemicals, food waste, oil) and a recycler can’t take it
- You need same-day clearing for an inspection and can’t wait on a recycler’s route
- Volume is too small for a recycler to send a truck
Before you pay for removal, call a recycler. A load someone wants to charge you $200 to haul may be a load a recycler will take for free.
Option 4: Recycle the wood yourself
Wood pallets are recyclable. Clean, untreated wood can go to a municipal wood recycling or mulch program, and some transfer stations accept pallets separately from general waste. Two cautions:
- Check the stamp. Pallets marked MB were fumigated with methyl bromide and should not be chipped for mulch or burned. HT (heat treated) pallets are just wood. See How to Read Pallet Stamps.
- Labor. Breaking down pallets is slow and you’ll spend more in wages than the material is worth. This option is for a handful of pallets, not a dock full.
Option 5: Landfill
The worst option on cost and the worst on paperwork. Pallets are bulky, so they eat dumpster capacity fast, and many landfills charge more for wood or refuse it in general waste. If you are paying to landfill pallets, you are paying twice: once for the dumpster and once in space you could have used for actual trash.
Stop the pile from coming back
Getting rid of the pallets you have is half the problem. The other half is the pallets arriving next week. Two fixes:
- Set up a recurring pickup. A recycler puts you on a route, weekly or monthly depending on volume, and the stack never gets tall enough to matter.
- Repair instead of replace. If you’re also buying pallets, ask the same recycler about a repair program. Damaged units get fixed and come back instead of being scrapped, and inbound pallets from your suppliers can be graded and reused rather than dumped.
Frequently asked questions
Call a pallet recycler. If your pallets are standard sizes in reusable condition they will pay you; if not, many recyclers will still pick up for free because the wood has value as material.
Usually yes, but it is the most expensive option. Pallets fill a dumpster quickly and some haulers charge extra for wood. Recycling or buyback is almost always cheaper.
Yes. Untreated and heat-treated pallets can be repaired, chipped for mulch, or used as fiber. Pallets stamped MB (methyl bromide) should go to a recycler, not into mulch or a fire.
A&A Pallets picks up unwanted pallets across Dallas–Fort Worth and pays for reusable units. Call (214) 398-3555 with a count.
Pallets piling up in DFW?
A&A Pallets has been clearing docks in Dallas–Fort Worth since 1998. We buy what can be reused, take what can be recycled, and put steady-volume customers on a recurring pickup so the pile doesn’t come back. Call (214) 398-3555.
Related services: Pallet Buyback & Pickup · Pallet Repair · All services
Photo: Reuse Warehouse Houston via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 (source)