Glossary

The words used across repallet.org, defined plainly, with the source for any figure or rule they mention. 45 terms.

Avoided emissions: The estimated difference in emissions between what happened and a baseline that didn't.
Biogenic CO2: Carbon dioxide released from burning or decomposing biomass such as wood.
Block pallet: A pallet whose deck sits on solid or composite blocks instead of stringers.
Bulk merchandise container: A statutory term for crates, pallets and shells used to move goods, covered by anti-theft purchase rules.
C&D debris: Construction and demolition waste: concrete, wood, drywall, roofing and similar materials.
Combo pallet: A pallet built from a mix of new and recycled boards.
Core (pallet core): A used pallet in a common size and repairable condition, bought by recyclers to repair and resell.
Cradle to grave: A life-cycle boundary from raw material extraction to final disposal.
Deck board: One of the boards that make up the top or bottom surface of a pallet.
Dimensional lumber (in WARM): EPA WARM's material category for sawn wood, which explicitly includes pallets.
Diversion rate: The share of discarded material kept out of landfill.
Dock sweep: A scheduled collection of pooled pallets from a retailer's or distributor's dock.
Dyed mulch: Wood chip mulch coloured red, brown or black, often made from recycled wood such as pallets.
Energy recovery: Burning waste to produce heat or electricity, a step below recycling in the waste hierarchy.
Forest carbon storage: WARM's credit for carbon left in forests when reuse or reduction means less wood is harvested.
Functional unit: The amount of service an LCA's results are expressed per, such as product delivered.
GHG Emission Factors Hub: EPA's annual set of default emission factors for corporate greenhouse gas inventories.
Grinding (pallet grinding): Shredding pallets that can't be reused into chips for mulch, bedding or fuel.
Heat treatment (HT): The ISPM 15 treatment that heats wood to at least 56 °C at the core for 30 minutes.
Indicia of ownership: Marks on a pallet that identify its owner; a defined term in California law.
ISPM 15: The international standard for treating and marking wood packaging to stop pests spreading in trade.
Landfill ban (disposal ban): A law or rule that forbids sending a named material to landfill.
Landfill carbon storage: Carbon in buried wood that WARM assumes stays in the landfill rather than decaying to gas.
Landfill gas (LFG): Methane-rich gas produced as organic waste decomposes in a landfill.
Methyl bromide (MB): A toxic, ozone-depleting fumigant once widely used on pallets, marked MB under ISPM 15.
MSW (municipal solid waste): Everyday trash from homes, businesses and institutions, as distinct from industrial or C&D waste.
MTCO2E: Metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, the common unit for greenhouse gas totals.
One-way pallet: A pallet meant to make a single trip and be left with the receiver.
Open burning: Burning material outdoors without a combustion device, restricted for waste in many places.
Pallet pooling: Renting pallets from a company that owns them, collects them and repairs them between trips.
Proprietary article: In Wisconsin's scrap dealer law, an item a dealer may buy only with proof the seller may sell it.
Quarantine and preshipment (QPS): The exemption that still allows methyl bromide for official pest-control treatments of traded goods.
Remanufactured pallet: A pallet built from boards salvaged by dismantling other pallets.
Roll-off container: A large open-top container that a truck rolls on and off, used for bulky waste.
Scope 3: Indirect greenhouse gas emissions in a company's value chain, outside its own operations and purchased energy.
Short ton: The US ton of 2,000 pounds, used by EPA's waste data and factors.
Source reduction: Using less material in the first place, the top of the waste hierarchy.
Stray pallet: A pooled pallet that has left its owner's normal distribution channel.
Stringer: A long board running the length of a pallet that carries the deck boards.
Tipping fee: The charge a landfill or other facility makes per ton of waste delivered.
WARM (Waste Reduction Model): EPA's model of the greenhouse gas effects of managing waste materials different ways.
Waste-to-energy plant: A facility that burns mixed municipal waste to generate electricity or steam.
Whitewood pallet: An unpainted wood pallet that is bought, not rented, as opposed to a coloured pooled pallet.
Wood waste: Discarded wood; in some laws, a defined term that decides what a ban covers.
Zero waste: A goal of sending nothing, or nearly nothing, to landfill or incineration.