What Are Used Wood Pallets Good for, Anyway?

Wherever there are goods transferred from factory to warehouse to retail outlet, there are pallets that help get those goods moved safely and securely.  That's a lot of pallets!

What are pallets good for once they're empty?  What happens to them once the goods are unloaded?

1)  Return to Sender - Many large retailers have agreements with their suppliers to return all the used pallets on a regular basis.  The retailer will store empty pallets until the next delivery comes in.  Then they send the pallets back to the manufacturer to be re-used.

2)  Give Away - Wooden pallets have become a popular material for home improvements and creative decorating.  The best places for these folks to get used pallets are smaller businesses.  A small, local business that doesn't receive a lot of regular shipments of goods probably doesn't have an agreement to send those pallets back.  In that situation, the retailer may welcome the opportunity to free up storage space, and do it without cost.

3)  Disposal - To save storage space, some retailers destroy their pallets as soon as they're emptied.  The pallets are broken into small pieces and thrown in the trash.  Some wooden pallets are broken apart and burned.

4)  Sell It! - Some companies make money by finding out where to sell pallets.
A pallet recycling center may accept pallets in any condition, even broken ones.  Pallets in good condition can be re-used as-is right away.  When a pallet is in poor condition, its better parts can be re-purposed into a new pallet which can then be resold at a discounted price to the next user.

Wooden Pallets Are Taking Over Pinterest!

Pallets have long been used by companies for storage and transporting goods.  When you are walking down the back isle at certain home improvement stores, you see all of their excess inventories stocked high on shelves,  all on wooden pallets.  This makes them accessible by forklifts, and easily moved to where they are needed.  If you have ever looked inside of a semi trailer, you see boxes wrapped in cellophane, all stacked very specifically on pallets.  Can you imagine the man power wasted if people were required to manually take and stack individual boxes into each and every trailer?
Wooden pallets have earned their place in the commercial and transportation world, and they will not be going anywhere anytime soon. What about in a residence? Can they maybe serve a purpose to homeowners other than to prevent stored items in an unfinished basement to collect moisture from the concrete?
Pallets have taken over Pinterest!!  Do-it-yourself gurus have introduced pallets as the latest craze.  Everything from slapping on rolling wheels and using a pallet as a table, to using some of the boards to make a custom wine rack.  The possibilities are endless.  People are constantly searching for ways to make their home unique and add character, and nothing does this more than a one-of-a-kind piece of decor made of a pallet.
Sometimes it can be a challenge to find a place to buy wood pallets.  If you have exhausted all of your options you can always look online and find a company that makes them, and better yet, find a company that recycles pallets into new ones.  They typically go through a repair process to ensure they are as good as new.  Plus, you can often times get a little extra character in your wood when the pallets are recycled.