Are wooden shipping pallets really designed to be single-use? (gas, toxic, refrigerators)
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Drive through any industrial park and you see multiple places offering "Free pallets", they are stacked up high and you can take as many as you like! A lot of people take them up on it, to break the pallets down and use them as firewood. Most of the free pallets don't appear to be damaged in any way.
I'm very surprised that there is no re-sale market for them.
People pick them up and build stuff out of them, and then sell what they've built. Fences, compost bins, chicken coops, display shelves, potting benches, portable decks, patio furniture, flooring, siding... It's a bit labor intensive, because there are typically a lot of nails to be pulled. Here's some examples - https://www.easypalletideas.com/thin...-with-pallets/
Only thing to be wary of is that some of them have been drenched in various insecticides and rodenticides.
People pick them up and build stuff out of them, and then sell what they've built. Fences, compost bins, chicken coops, display shelves, potting benches, portable decks, patio furniture, flooring, siding... It's a bit labor intensive, because there are typically a lot of nails to be pulled. Here's some examples - https://www.easypalletideas.com/thin...-with-pallets/
Only thing to be wary of is that some of them have been drenched in various insecticides and rodenticides.
That is a very big thing for how do you know?
A, B, and C. A: For what we don't see, we have a habit of assuming it is okay for other use. I remember years ago when they were offering to make old 35 mm film containers into salt and pepper shakers. The problem was that people didn't appreciate the chemicals that went into making film and how that could leach into the container and contaminate the seasonings. After all, those film containers weren't designed to be food safe. https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/S80AA...YI/s-l1600.jpg
B: Same thing with pallets. What are they designed to do, what are they built for, what kind of stuff do they support.......and now you want to get semi personal with it?
C: On a related note, in my wild country of black widows and scorpions, I store my firewood outside but the previous named fiends do make me cautious about handling it. What to do, have The Man From ABC pest control spray my wood pile? Well, if he did, that would just be great, now I would be bring that pesticide inside my house, turning it into a gas, and potentially poisoning every living thing in the house when I make a nice cozy fire for the winter.....to say nothing if I use it in an outdoor grill.
Ours is a very dangerous world when one treats it without a care, without thinking.
Emerald Ash Borer pestilence is a serious problem and it probalby was carried here from Asia on pallet wood. Other pests could potentially be carried this way also. https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/sci...united-states/
Theoretically, chemicals from pallets are toxic. In practice, unless you're going to eat large quatitites of the wood over many years, I would't worry about it.
They are offered free because the cost of stoarge & shipment for re-use are greater than their cost to produce new. Wood, after all, is naturally re-cyclable, so no real waste if you just dump them and let MotherNature deal with it. Even granite is naturally re-cyclable if you're patient enough.
I think pallets are good for at least a year? single-use seems silly/wasteful.
In the old days, you could pick up some free pallets and go down to the beach/lake front and have a bonfire. Good clean fun, drinking cans of warm beer and dancing by the firelight, under a full moon.
Nowdays, there's signs at the beach: NO PALLETS. All them nails add up (cause they dont burn) and some even fall out in the parking lot and sand when you drag the pallet. Barefoot children will be there the next morning.
Pallets degrade slowly. They're usually made of oak- naturally, relatively resistant to decay. I've had a pile of them sitting out in the weather for most of the last decade and they'd still be perfectly suitable for shipping jobs.....
I periodically cannibalize them for small building projects. Stripping them is a PITA and can take 20-30 minutes each. They each have 100-200 nails. Breaking the slats is common in the process because it takes so much pressure on the crow bar to get the nails out.
As I said, the cost of saving, storing and sending back old ones for re-use exceeds the cost of building a new one.
In regards warm beer-- Mechanics who worked on MGs & Triumphs in the 50s & 60s know the answer to the question "Why do Brits drink warm beer?"...It's because they all have Lucas refrigerators.
I think pallets are good for at least a year? single-use seems silly/wasteful.
In the old days, you could pick up some free pallets and go down to the beach/lake front and have a bonfire. Good clean fun, drinking cans of warm beer and dancing by the firelight, under a full moon.
Nowdays, there's signs at the beach: NO PALLETS. All them nails add up (cause they dont burn) and some even fall out in the parking lot and sand when you drag the pallet. Barefoot children will be there the next morning.
One must appreciate, VERY MUCH, that we are not in the old days!
I am told by the fire marshal that no firefighter today would go into any fire without an airpak. Why? Because our modern ways of manufacturing often involves substances that release poisonous gas when it burns, like cyanide. Further, fires these days burn hotter, again probably because of how we make things.
And now people want to take something that was built to move these things and use them for fire wood and personal use?
truck driver here....
Many pallets are one way, too much hassle too bring pallets with you.
But you have CHEP pallets, the blue pallets. The customer pay (20 years ago) 25 bucks plus a fee. You turn them in and get the 25 bucks back. CHEP is world wide. https://www.chep.com/us/en/services-solutions
Many pallets in the valley in CA for example would be repair for the farmers too ship there products on. Those pallets you see outside warehouses.
In Europe you have the EURO pallets. those and the CHEP pallets you can hardly lift, there are heavy. Another reason they make the cheap pallets. They weigh 5 pounds. https://www.epal-pallets.org/eu-en/l...al-euro-pallet
Drive through any industrial park and you see multiple places offering "Free pallets", they are stacked up high and you can take as many as you like! A lot of people take them up on it, to break the pallets down and use them as firewood. Most of the free pallets don't appear to be damaged in any way.
I'm very surprised that there is no re-sale market for them.
Working at various plants, they don't have any "Single use" pallets. In fact, it's "Use them till they shatter" and there's some shipping requirements that can make pallet grabbers money.
Any company shipping overseas MUST use treated pallets. Only a certain type can be used. There's still a big market for used pallets. We have 6-12 scrappers who run their routes picking up pallets. Heck of a sight with one old Datsun pickup with 30-40 pallets on back.
Working at various plants, they don't have any "Single use" pallets. In fact, it's "Use them till they shatter" and there's some shipping requirements that can make pallet grabbers money.
Any company shipping overseas MUST use treated pallets. Only a certain type can be used. There's still a big market for used pallets. We have 6-12 scrappers who run their routes picking up pallets. Heck of a sight with one old Datsun pickup with 30-40 pallets on back.
Yeah, i can't seem to find any pallets around my area just sitting free for the taking.
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