Business owners know how frustrating it can be to have new inventory coming in and not enough space. New supplies typically come on pallets or within cardboard boxes. These can eventually pile up, contributing to clutter in warehouses and storage facilities. 

At Junk King Middlesex, we help businesses to declutter and make room for new inventory. We try to recycle upwards of 60 percent of every commercial junk haul, as well, so that wooden pallets and cardboard materials get recycled. We also take plastic and metal containers, in addition to wooden pallets removal.

Metal, Plastic, and Wooden Pallets Removal 

Pallets usually come in three flavors: metal, plastic, and wooden. Junk King works with local recyclers to give each of these materials a second life. Wooden skids and stringer pallets can be recycled along with plastic pallets, pallet boxes, and solid deck pallets. Scrap metal and pallet trays are also made of fully-recyclable metal materials. 

The National Wood Pallet and Container Association (NWPCA) says that 1.9 billion pallets are used every year in the United States. The lion’s share of these pallets is constructed from wood (approximately 95 percent), whereas the rest are made from wood composite, plastic, or corrugated metals.

The funny thing is that a large number of pallet producers themselves often cannot say what kind of lumber comprises wooden pallets. That’s because a variety of hardwoods and softwoods contribute to wood pallets. Mills in different parts of the country process different woods, depending on the growing region and harvest that year. 

• Recycling Wooden Pallets 

There’s an unquenchable industrial need for what is known as remanufactured or reconditioned pallets. These are sometimes also called ‘combo’ pallets because they are made out of the materials of yesteryear’s pallets. That is certainly much better than chopping down more trees! 

The hospitality and beverage industry also has a great need for off-size custom pallets, so business owners and supply chain managers in these industries predominately rely on remanufactured pallets to economize. There’s an international standard known as ISPM 15 (export shipping) that remanufactured pallets pass with flying colors. 

Wooden pallets removal that goes towards remanufactured and reconditioned pallets help the environment, too. A lot of people have the hopeful thought that wooden pallets can be popped into landfills with no harm done. Aren’t wooden pallets biodegradable? Somewhat. The truth is that wood products take, on average, about 15 years to decompose in landfills. 

• Issues with Plunking Pallets in Landfills 

The problem with putting wooden pallets into landfills – aside from taking these pallets out of the recycling and reuse circulation – is that they are treated chemically.

A chemical treatment can make pallets a less attractive option for bugs and mold, but it can also be worse for the environment if the pallets are piled up in a local landfill. A particular chemical known as methyl bromide can harm the local environment (water, air, and soil) and the ozone layer. 

Wood actually decomposes with the help of fungi, and this fungus relies on damp conditions to do its work. Mostly because landfills themselves are overcrowded, the wood pallets piling up in landfills don’t have the right conditions to decompose naturally.

Landfills have been a widespread American phenomenon since the 1960s, but that model is breaking down because the landfills themselves are severely overcrowded. The landfills these days are usually too wet (for too long) or too dry to accommodate the fungi growth which would decompose pallets. 

The lack of proper conditions to promote fungi growth coupled with chemical treatments of the pallets and overcrowded landfills calls for an alternative solution. At Junk King, we pioneered that better way a long time ago, since we started recycling-based junk removal nearly twenty years, back in 2005. We also offer a 100% quality guarantee to complete peace of mind. 

Pallets and Commercial Junk Removal 

Beyond warehouses, pallets can be an issue bedeviling construction job sites, proper managers, and storage facility managers. Once the new equipment comes in or the tenant skips town, who’s there to pick up the mess? At Junk King, we’re here to help with wooden pallets removal and a host of other commercial junk removal services, including: 

• – Office Furniture Removal
• – Commercial Equipment Removal
• – Commercial Scrap Pick Up
• – Property Management Clean Out
• – Foreclosure Clean Out
• – Storage Facility Clean Out
• – Construction Debris Removal

Wood products made up around 10 percent of the material that Americans sent to landfills in 2017, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. This is higher than you might think because 11 categories made it into that study, and the weight of all this wood taken collectively is pretty substantial, to the tune of about 12 million pounds of wood sent to landfills in 2017. 

Wooden pallets were actually about 90 percent (by weight) of the 10 percent of material sent to landfills in 2017. All of these pallets are still trying to decompose in overcrowded landfills today. Wooden pallets removal with Junk King can dramatically cut down on the amount of wood forced to decompose in landfills every year. Remember that about 2 billion wooden pallets are circulated every year in the United States. 

Junk King takes all kinds of scrap metals in addition to wooden pallets removal. What some may be surprised to discover is that these two items can cross paths – wooden pallets are often fastened together with the help of nails. These nails, in turn, can be difficult to remove from pallets, and they often just stay in place if the wooden pallets make their way to landfills instead of being recycled properly. 

While most wooden pallets are repurposed into tomorrow’s wooden pallets, they can also be turned into mulch and kindling. The catch is that for wooden pallets to be turned into mulch or kindling they can’t contain nails, since nails hidden in wooden pallets can ruin the machines that turn pallets into mulch. Recycling is the way to go. Simply consider that wooden pallets make up 50 percent of the hardwood consumption in North America every year.

Need wooden pallets removal? Feel free to contact Junk King today and set up an appointment online or call 1-888-888-5865 (JUNK) to get one step closer to eco-friendly commercial junk removal.