How do I get rid of old pallets in Sydney?

Most of a pallet stack is not rubbish. Sound pallets are bought, repairable ones are credited, and only broken timber is a clearance line. Sixty or more reusable pallets anywhere in Greater Sydney is a free pickup; a smaller or mixed stack is quoted as a clearance in writing before anything is booked. The dearest way to get rid of pallets is the skip, because you pay to throw away timber somebody would have paid you for.

Send a photo and a count What are my pallets worth?

Or call Jayden on 0494 820 639, 7am to 5pm weekdays, or text a photo of the stack to the same number.

Quick answer

How do I get rid of old pallets in Sydney?

Sort them first, because most of a pallet stack is not rubbish: sound standard 1165 pallets are bought, repairable cores are credited and only broken timber is a clearance line. Sixty or more reusable pallets anywhere in Greater Sydney is a free pickup; a smaller or mixed stack is quoted as a clearance in writing before anything is booked, netted against what the sound pallets earn. A skip is the dearest option, and pooled CHEP and Loscam pallets go back to the pool.

The options

What are the ways to dispose of pallets, and what does each cost?

Option	What it costs	When it makes sense
Sell the sound ones	Nothing: you are paid per pallet on the grade band, and from sixty reusable pallets in Greater Sydney the pickup is free	Any stack with sound standard 1165 pallets in it, which is most stacks
A quoted clearance	A written price for the broken and mixed part of the stack, netted against what the sound pallets earn	Mixed stacks, under sixty reusable pallets, or odd sizes nobody reuses
Ride-along on a delivery	Often nothing: a small stack goes back on a truck already delivering to your estate	Twenty or thirty pallets in an estate we deliver to every week
A skip or a bin	Hire plus tip fees by the tonne, and the timber goes to landfill or chipping	Only for timber that is contaminated or treated, which no yard will take
Burn or dump	Fines, and in NSW it is illegal on most sites	Never

The order matters: sort by grade before anything is thrown away, because the first two lines of the table pay for the third. The recycling page explains what happens to each pallet after it leaves the dock.

What is bought

Which old pallets are worth money?

Sound Australian standard 1165 x 1165 pallets, hardwood or softwood, graded A, B or C: bought per pallet, and the stack that earns the most.
Repairable cores: a sound frame with broken boards. Credited when we buy, repaired and put back to work.
Euro 1200 x 800, export and odd sizes: reusable and bought, in their own stack, because they move slower.
Heavy duty and custom pallets from building and engineering sites: often worth more than standard stock; say what they carried.
Not bought: broken timber, pallets with a cracked or missing bearer, contaminated or chemically treated timber, and pooled pallets (CHEP and Loscam), which belong to the pool and go back to it: what to do with those.

How it works

How does a pallet clearance work?

Photo and count. Stand square to the stack, shoot the whole height, count the stacks and multiply. Split the sizes if you can. Send it with the suburb and whether there is a forklift.
The split, in writing. Three lines before anything is booked: what is bought and at what band, what is collected free, and what is cleared at a quoted price. The clearance is netted against what the sound pallets earn, so a mixed stack often comes out close to zero.
The pickup, booked around your gate. A vehicle that fits the yard, on a day the stack is ready, inside your hours. A hand load is priced up front, not on the invoice.
The docket and the count. What left, by grade, on the docket, so your own waste reporting has the number and the split.

Under sixty reusable pallets in Sydney, three options are offered in writing: hold them until the count is there, ride back on a delivery already coming past, or a priced clearance. The 60 pallet rule works through five real stacks.

Outside Sydney

Does the same apply in Wollongong, the Central Coast and Newcastle?

Yes, with one difference: outside Greater Sydney the pickup is priced in the written offer against what the pallets earn rather than assumed free, because the run is longer. Illawarra stacks are collected on the Picton Road run from Unanderra to Nowra; Hunter stacks from our Bennetts Green stock point; the Central Coast on the M1 run. On a sorted stack of sixty or more sound standard pallets it usually comes out in your favour. The suburb pages carry the detail: Wollongong to Nowra, the Central Coast and the Hunter and every suburb we stop at.

Getting it gone

One photo, one count, and the split comes back in writing.

Send it from the yard. Sound pallets earn, cores are credited, broken timber is cleared at a quoted price, and nothing is booked until you have the figure.

Send a photo and a count What are my pallets worth?

Questions about pallet disposal

Is pallet disposal free in Sydney?

Sixty or more reusable pallets anywhere in Greater Sydney is a free pickup and the sound ones are bought. Under sixty, or a stack that is mostly broken, is quoted as a clearance first, netted against what the sound pallets earn, and often comes out close to zero.

Can I put pallets in a skip?

You can, and it is the dearest option: hire plus tip fees by the tonne for timber that a yard would have paid you for. A skip only makes sense for contaminated or chemically treated timber.

Do you take broken pallets?

Yes, as a clearance line on the written offer. Broken timber is cleared at a quoted price; repairable cores with a sound frame are credited rather than charged.

Do you take CHEP or Loscam pallets?

No. Pooled pallets belong to the pool and go back to it. Count them separately and book the pool's collection; the plain timber beside them is what we buy.

How quickly can old pallets be collected?

A quote asked for before 2pm is answered the same business day. The pickup is booked against the day the stack is ready and the hours the gate is open.

Prefer to talk? Call Jayden on 0494 820 639. What each pallet is worth: what are my pallets worth. The rule with worked examples: the 60 pallet free pickup rule.

Call 0494 820 639 Get a price