Wooden pallets are among the most integral pieces of equipment inside a warehouse facility. Warehouses managers rely on wooden pallets to store, move, and transport items. It’s easy to see why, considering all the benefits that wooden pallets have over plastic- and paper-based options. However, a lot of times, wooden pallets get thrown out, burned, or wasted elsewhere right after their first use. And, in the end, it costs a business more money when relying on landfills for pallet disposal. Instead of using the landfill as a disposal method for broken pallets, try out a pallet disposal program instead.

This is a huge missed opportunity for companies. Not only can you continue to use these wooden pallets several more times, but when they do wear out or break, there is another option—pallet disposal services. Also known as a recovery, repair, or return system, this kind of program can offer many benefits to your company when choosing old pallet removal services instead. If you don’t properly dispose of pallets, you could face many downfalls. Foregoing a system like this can lead to wasted money, accidents, less storage space, and misused resources. Learn more, as we look further at the reasons your business needs a pallet disposal program below.

Cuts Costs for Your Company

There are a few ways that pallet disposal services can help cut costs and save your company a lot of money. Pallet services have great benefits and build a better system for tracking your inventory. This starts with examining how much you’re spending on brand new pallets. The more pallets you can keep reusing, the more money you will save. If you find that you are in need of some new pallets, consider buying them used or refurbished. Used and refurbished pallets are still perfectly good quality, and they cost less than acquiring brand-new capital.
Additionally, one of the best ways to utilize refurbishing services is to send in any of your worn out or broken pallets to be fixed. Manufacturers will charge only a small fee to refurbish these pallets and send them back to you in new, working condition. Another option that is offered by many manufacturers is a return program. This gives you the choice to return used pallets to earn credits that can go toward new pallets.

Selling used pallets is also an effective way to recoup money on your original investment. You can start by trying to sell them to any pallet recycling company, and if that doesn’t work, you can try third-party vendors. These are buyers who will give you money for used and even broken pallets—they will then perform any necessary repairs and sell them off to other companies. One more type of place you could sell used or broken pallets to is scrap pallet buyers. They are often willing to take them just for the wood alone. These broken pallet disposal services make removing used pallets from your warehouse simple, efficient, and economical. So don’t send broken pallets to the landfill; give them new life by recycling instead. Many pallet companies offer pick-up services for businesses that need to dispose of old, worn-down pallets.

Improves Sustainability

Pallet waste disposal can also help make wooden pallets a sustainable product. In fact, it reduces your carbon footprint—here are examples. When you send old, broken pallets back to the manufacturers to refurbish them, fewer new pallets need to be manufactured, which prevents more trees from having to be chopped down. Although reports from the USDA Forest Service show an increase in wood growth of over 20 percent since 1990, the use of refurbished wooden pallets will help continue this pattern of keeping our forests stable and safe. Plus, this practice of reducing the need to produce new pallets creates an even more sustainable business model.
When recycling, contact a pallet removal company. Not only will they take your pallets, but they will generally take any other recyclable material as well. This can also benefit your business’s image. Current concerns over climate change have made finding ways to be more environmentally friendly essential to running an appealing business. The customers care greatly when they see a company making a point to help the environment; this will attract more support for your business. It will also have an impact on your employees. Workers are far more likely to commit to a company that values environmental sustainability. This builds trust between them and their employer, making for stronger working relationships.

Creates a Safer Work Environment

There are several ways that pallet waste disposal services will ensure better safety in your warehouse environment. Build a better work environment for employees by reducing the number of pallets they throw away to zero. After all, you have better disposal options. When broken and worn out pallets are removed from the equation, you can avoid accidents and injuries. This will benefit your workers, specifically when loading shipments. Employees oversee moving heavy batches onto a pallet and then into transport vehicles—this is one of the main points where accidents can occur. A broken or weakening pallet can easily cause a load to topple. And even though workers often use forklifts to move these shipments, a load that falls from a buckling pallet can still cause harm to them and anyone else in the vicinity.
Another way proper pallet removal will make your environment safer is by preventing workers from suffering injuries while doing basic duties like handling pallets and stacking racks.

For example, broken pallets can expose employees to sharp fragments of wood that can lead to cuts and other types of wounds. Broken pallets may also lead to mishandled or damaged merchandise.

Lastly, there is the danger of storing items on broken pallets in the warehouse; they could become falling hazards to employees. Be diligent about removing such pallets—constantly use ones in good condition to protect your employees and products from all these dangers.

Taking these precautions will help your warehouse become a safer and more enjoyable environment.

Helps Keep the Environment Sanitary

Wooden pallets must go through a curing process, which is part of the ISPM-15 requirements. Government mandates ensure that wooden pallets must go through a heat-treating process that raises the temperature to kill off any harmful insects, such as bed bugs and termites.

These insects can damage the pallets as well as destroy your inventory. When you have refurbished pallets that have been previously treated, you already have a low likelihood of pest infestation.

This is because pallets will get another heat-treatment during their refurbishing, decreasing the likelihood of pests even further. This ultimately makes your warehouse a cleaner working environment.

Don’t miss out on these advantages of pallet disposal services. Instead speak with a FALM team member today to learn how you can participate in these programs and schedule a pallet pick up for your business.