Combo pallet
A pallet built from a mix of new and recycled boards.
A combo pallet combines new lumber with recycled or salvaged parts, for example new stringers with recycled deck boards. Recyclers and manufacturers build them to meet a customer's strength requirement at a lower cost than an all-new pallet.
Combo pallets show how reuse and manufacturing blur. The recycled boards in them avoid some new lumber, which is the effect EPA's WARM model credits as reuse of dimensional lumber. The new boards are new lumber with their own upstream emissions, which belong in the buyer's scope 3 category 1.
If you buy combo pallets, ask the supplier what share by weight is recycled, so you can report purchases accurately. See purchased pallets and repair.
A combo pallet can be repaired and reused like any other wood pallet at the end of its life.
Sources
- Documentation for Greenhouse Gas Emission and Energy Factors Used in WARM, Version 16: Construction Materials Chapters, ch. 12 Wood Products (EPA-530-R-23-020) U.S. EPA. Accessed October 27, 2026. Exhibits 12-3 (p. 12-3), 12-9, 12-13, 12-15 and 12-16 (p. 12-10).