Pallet cores: the used pallets a recycler buys
A core is a used pallet a shipper no longer needs, handed over for inspection, repair, dismantling or, if beyond repair, grinding.
- Size
- Any
- Build
- Stringer, block
- Grade
- Core
- Trades
- Any dock
- Towns
- Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon
A core is not a verdict
Calling a pallet a core does not mean it is junk. It means the dock has no further use for it. A pallet recovered as a core is used for repair, resale, remanufacturing or recycling, and wood that cannot be repaired may be chipped for mulch, composite products or biomass.
| Outcome | What it takes | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Sorted | Size and grade checked | Back into stock if it passes |
| Repaired | A broken board replaced, a plug set, a plate hammered on | A Grade B pallet |
| Dismantled | Boards and stringers pulled apart | Parts for other pallets |
| Ground | Wood beyond repair chipped | Mulch, composite material or biomass |
How to describe cores in a request
Say the count, the sizes, and what condition the stack is in. A load of one size with a few cracked boards reads very differently from a mixed load with cracked stringers. If most are 48x40, say so; the 48x40 is the pallet most recyclers can place.
- Count, or a good estimate, and whether it recurs
- Sizes, with a share for each if mixed
- Condition: cracked stringers, missing boards, mould, chemical staining
- Where the stack sits and how it can be reached
- Whether any are pooled pallets, which are left out
Cores from different trades
A food dock's cores tend to be standard 48x40 stringer pallets with cracked boards. An auto supplier's cores can be 48x45 returnables. A furniture plant's cores may be one-off builds with no resale. Naming the trade helps.
Compare with selling sound stock, where the pallets are good enough to go back into use, and recycling, where the question is what happens to the stack.
Two kinds of dock, two kinds of cores
A dock that gets freight in on 48x40s sees mostly one size of core, and the pile is easy to sort. A manufacturer that makes its own packaging sees a rainbow of one-off builds, and the pile is hard to sort. Say which you are, because the first is a commodity and the second may be nearly worthless to anyone but a grinder.
Neither is a reason not to ask. A recycler would rather hear about a pile and say no than have a dock throw away wood that was worth sorting.
A sample core description
Roughly eighty pallets, about two thirds 48x40, the rest 48x45. Most with cracked stringers or missing deck boards. Stored inside a warehouse bay and reachable by a box truck. Nothing rented.
Cores and the calendar
Core supply follows production. A plant in a busy quarter produces more cores. A plant that closes for retooling produces a one-time pile. Name the pattern: weekly, quarterly, a single clear-out.
Describing cores for a buyer
A seller of cores should give the count, the size, the share that is heat-treated and the general condition. A photograph of a typical stack, and one of the worst pallet in it, builds trust faster than adjectives.
Cores are valued for the frame, so say if the stringers are sound even where the deck is poor.