Pallet Recycling: How To Quickly Dismantle a Pallet for Reuse

Many businesses across industries use pallets when shipping and storing their goods. They are so in demand that in the US alone, more than 500 million are manufactured every year and over 90 percent of those are made of wood. And of that figure, many are single-use only which end up filling landfills. 

An excellent trend that has been gaining a lot of traction these past few years turns that wastage into something infinitely better — pallet recycling. Pallet recycling is breaking down pallets and making use of them in other ways different from their original purpose. It keeps many serviceable pallets from the trash and gives people an inexpensive but sturdy material to work with.

Recycling Wood Pallets

There are so many ways you can reuse a wooden pallet. The broken ones are usually dismantled and turned into scrap wood, composted, or made into mulch. Clean and otherwise unbroken pallets are reused into various DIY projects.

Some of the most popular DIY projects include turning pallets into benches, bar stools, or dining tables. Pallets have been recycled as shoe organizers, bookcases, and even rustic clocks. They can also be made into beautiful wood flooring that lasts. The possibilities are endless. 

Before you can begin your project, however, you will need to know how to dismantle your pallets. Disassembling pallets can take time, but it is easy once you get the hang of it.

Breaking Down Wood Pallets

There are many ways to break down a pallet but the fastest way is to use a circular saw. This method works best if you have a lot of pallets to break down since it will save you time. 

Steps:

1. Lay your pallet on the floor with the top deck facing upwards.
2. Move the saw to one edge (far right or far left) of the deck with the cutting blade as close to the block as possible. 
3. Cut along the slat’s edge, keeping as close as you can to the block. Once done, move to the other side and repeat. 
4. After cutting through both sides of the slats, the only job left to do is to take the slats off the center by using a pry bar (and a hammer, if you’re having difficulty with a stubborn nail).

Using this method, you can be done with one pallet in five minutes or so without damaging any slat in the process. The only drawback to this is you will lose some length. 

Have a pallet project in mind?

We can help! Anderson Pallet & Crate is a trusted source of wooden shipping and packaging products. If you need pallets for your crafting needs, we can supply them too. Drop us a message or give us a call at (303) 660-0084.