What to do with old pallets at home
First check whether it's yours: blue, red and plastic pooled pallets belong to their owners. A clean, HT-marked, unpainted pallet can become a compost bay or project wood. Don't burn MB-marked, painted or contaminated pallets. Otherwise ask local businesses, pallet recyclers or your municipal drop-off whether they take them.
Whose is it?
Colour and markings tell you. CHEP's blue pallets and PECO's red 'OWNED BY PECO' pallets are rented property; see found a pooled pallet.
Reuse safely
- Compost bays and garden structures: garden beds.
- Coops and pens: animals.
- Furniture: indoor furniture.
- Firewood: read can you burn pallets first. EPA's Burn Wise guidance rules out painted, coated and treated wood.
Getting rid of them
Many municipal drop-off sites take clean wood. In Vermont, untreated wood waste can't go in the trash at all (10 V.S.A. § 6621a). Call your local solid waste office for the nearest option.
Bulky waste pickup
Some municipalities collect pallets with bulky items or yard waste, and some refuse them. Rules differ by city, so check your local collection guide before leaving pallets at the curb, and never put out pooled pallets, which belong to their owners.
Sources
- Burn Wise: Best Wood-Burning Practices U.S. EPA. Accessed October 27, 2026.
- Request blue pallet collection CHEP USA. Accessed October 27, 2026.
- PECO Asset Recovery Program (letter dated April 1, 2023) PECO Pallet. Accessed October 27, 2026.
- 10 V.S.A. § 6621a Landfill disposal requirements Vermont General Assembly. Accessed October 27, 2026.