How to get rid of pallets

1. Pull the pooled palletsBlue and red painted pallets belong to a pooling company. They are not yours to sell, and they are not waste. Ask the pooler to collect them. See CHEP and PECO.
2. Pull the sound onesWhole deck boards, tight frame, no mold. Count them by size. These are sold; see what pallets are worth.
3. Pull the repairable onesA broken board or a cracked stringer on a pallet that is otherwise good. They go to a repairer or a recycler.
4. What is leftRotted, burned, soaked or broken through. This is a clear-out.

• Do not put pallets out as trash. They are bulky and usually not part of regular collection; check your local rules first.
• Do not burn them. Treated lumber and glue give off things you do not want to breathe.
• Do not stack them against a building. Dry wood burns, and your fire marshal sets the distances.
• Do not give them away unsorted. Whoever takes them takes the problem with them.

A pallet that soaked up a chemical is not a normal pallet. Facilities that generate hazardous waste have obligations in all three jurisdictions: in the District, DOEE’s Hazardous Waste Branch issues the EPA identification number; in Maryland, MDE enforces COMAR 26.13 and uses its own generator categories rather than the federal very-small-quantity one; in Virginia, DEQ runs the program. If you are unsure, ask the agency before you move the wood.

The count by size, the grade as you see it, a ZIP and how the load leaves your site. We say whether it is a sale, a buy-back, a clear-out or a recycling job. The Pile reader can give you a first read.

A landlord, a contractor or a new tenant may inherit a pile. Before moving it, find out who owns the pallets. If a pooler owns them, call the pooler. If a previous tenant left them, check the lease. The owner decides what happens.

First, whose are they? Blue and red mean the pool owner collects. Second, how many, and in what shape? Whole and sorted pallets can often be sold; broken ones go to recycling. Third, how fast must they go? A lease ending on a fixed date is a different job from a pile that has sat for a year.

Answer those three and the right route becomes obvious, whether it is a sale, a buy-back or a clear-out.

• Mixing pooled pallets into the pile.
• Leaving them out in rain until they rot.
• Calling several haulers without stating the count.
• Stacking so high the pile cannot be counted or moved.

Can I just leave pallets for the city to collect?

Not as a rule. Pallets are bulky and usually not part of normal trash collection; check your local rules or call a pickup.

Are pallets that held chemicals hazardous waste?

They may be. Check with DOEE in DC, MDE in Maryland or DEQ in Virginia before moving them.