To be able to know whether or not a pallet has been treated it is important to know or look into the following three things; NPPO/ IPPC standards, IPPC logos, and references. Pallets are now required to have an IPPC logo which certifies that the pallets was heat treated or fumigated. However, heat treatment is unavailable in Brisbane as there is no one who offers heat treatment of pallets. To be able to know if heat treatment or fumigation has occurred you should see a standard 2 letter country code, a unique number, and a HT for heat treatment or MB for methyl bromide or DB to signify it has been debarked.

However, if pallets are untreated, you will be able to see this as their will be no stamp indicating that treatment has been used. Sometimes, a pallet could be treated but was not stamped, if unsure call the company you bought your pallets from and they will be able to tell you if they have or haven’t. If pallets are unmarked, your shouldn’t risk using them in your garden, as furniture, or as firewood since you can’t be sure if they are treated. Furthermore, regarding plastic pallets they DO NOT need to be treated as they do not comply with IPPC regulations since parasites cannot live in the plastic.

Most pallets are able to be reused, repaired, recycled or even used as a bio-fuel instead of going to landfill. Reusing pallets saves trees, energy and diverts useable pallets from landfill. It is important to recycle most wooden pallets as they can be reused and repaired multiple times, aside from the small portion that are single use only. Investing in more expensive multi-use pallets also offers long-term saving through an extended lifecycle, where it can be repurposed for multiple things if you put your imagination to use. When you recycle your pallets there are three things that can happen; reuse, repair and recycle.

Reuse is where multi-use pallets offer significant long-term financial savings over single use pallets. Significant reductions can be found in energy consumption, solid waste generation and greenhouse gas emissions compared to single use wooden pallets.

Repair is where most wooden pallets are made up of a number of standardized components. Therefore, if a component should be damaged or break your wood pallet can easily be repaired and reused.

Recycle is when pallets are dismantled and the wood is then processed into wood products like particle board, woodchips, mulch, animal bedding, or used as biomass – a source of renewable energy.

To be able to prepare export for your pallets, you need to make sure you are meeting the international custom regulations. This is developed in collaboration with multiple countries around the world, the IPSM15 regulations are a set of standards designed to govern any international shipments involving wooden packaging. Whenever a shipment is involving customs, officials will need to see proof that the materials have been treated properly (often found with a stamp on the side of the pallets). This means that the sender has had any wooden materials fumigated and has the certification mark to prove it. The certification only confirms that the materials are free of pests at the time of the check.

Before sending pallets off for exportation, you need to make sure you work with your partners and the requirements for standard pallet sizes across the world. For example the standard pallet size for exportation in Australia is 1165mm x 1165mm, however it can be different across other countries. So when you are setting up a supply chain, make sure you take the steps in setting up an international supply chain, which involves talking to the suppliers and partners you intend to use, as pallet sizes may vary depending the industry. If you are unsure check out the international organization for standardization (ISO) as they have created main sizing categories that most businesses adhere to when using exporting pallets.

Pallets are typically a form of tertiary packaging. Pallets are a flat structure used as a based for the unitization of foods in the supply chain. It is typically used to stack, store, protect, and transport materials in the course of being handled by the materials handling equipment such as forklifts, pallet jacks or conveyors, being stored in racking or bulk storage or being positioned in transport vehicles. But there are endless ideas that pallets can be used for, all you need is a little imagination and DIY talent. For example, pallets can be repurposed for:

1. Standing gardens
2. Coffee tables
3. Bookshelf or toy bins
4. Shoe organizer
5. Swing
6. Wine bar
7. Pallet lights
8. Pallet pathway
9. Wall art
10. Flower box
11. Ottoman
12. Desktop
13. Stools
14. Pot racks
15. Benches

*these are just a few ideas that can be used to repurpose your pallets*