Before you build anything from recycled pallets, check the stamp. HT inside a box with the IPPC symbol means the timber was heated to 56°C right through its core for at least 30 minutes, with no chemicals involved. MB means it was fumigated with methyl bromide. Don't build with that one, and don't burn it.
Last updated: November 2026
Most wooden pallets can be reused and repaired several times over, and the ones past fixing can be shredded for mulch and building products. So recycled wooden pallets make good project timber, as long as you know what's been done to them.
How to read the stamp on a pallet
The stamp is the ISPM 15 mark, from the international standard for timber packaging used in shipping between countries. It's there to stop timber pests travelling with freight, and it applies to export pallets, crates, dunnage and skids alike. Only certified treatment providers and pallet manufacturers can apply it.
Look for a rectangle with the IPPC symbol on the left and a line separating it from the codes. One line carries the two-letter country code, AU for a pallet treated here, joined by a hyphen to the treatment provider's number. The treatment code sits on its own line or after another hyphen.
- HT is heat treatment in a steam or dry kiln chamber.
- DH is dielectric heating, where microwaves or radio waves take the timber to 60°C for at least a minute.
- MB is methyl bromide fumigation.
- SF is sulphuryl fluoride fumigation.
Turn the pallet over before you decide it hasn't got one. The standard wants the mark somewhere you'd see it while the pallet is in use, preferably on two opposite sides, and it has to be durable and can't be hand drawn. It can be any colour, although the Department of Agriculture says to avoid red and orange because those are used on dangerous goods labels.
No stamp usually means a pallet built for local freight. ISPM 15 is a rule for international trade, and Penn State Extension notes that any pallet travelling between countries has to carry a treatment stamp. That leaves you guessing about an unstamped one. We'd use those for the shed or a side fence rather than a child's bed.
Why MB pallets stay out of your projects
Methyl bromide is toxic if you breathe it in, the APVMA says, and it depletes the ozone layer. In Australia it can only be used as a fumigant for quarantine and pre-shipment, and heavy penalties apply to any other use. Even the standard that lists it asks countries to promote the alternatives.
Researchers at Penn State Extension, who studied injuries from pallets used around the home, say never to use a pallet stamped MB for a home project. The same guide says heat treatment poses no risk to people. An HT or DH pallet in good condition is the one you want.
Heat, weight and injury data for timber pallets
- Heat-treated pallets have to reach 56°C right through, core included, for at least 30 continuous minutes (IPPC, ISPM 15, 2018 revision).
- Methyl bromide can't be used on a pallet with any piece of timber more than 20cm thick at its smallest dimension (ISPM 15, 2018).
- The Australian standard pallet is 1165mm square. Loscam's weighs about 34kg and CHEP's about 38kg (company spec sheets; Loscam's dated 2025).
- The same researchers estimated 30,493 visits to US hospital emergency rooms for pallet injuries from 2014 to 2018. Only about 15% were shoppers in a store; the rest happened at places such as homes and schools (guide updated 2024).
- Recycling a tonne of timber pallets saves 1.35 tonnes of greenhouse gas (CO2e) and keeps about 14 wheelie bins of timber out of landfill (NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, 2010, via Planet Ark).
- In 2021-22, 2.4 million tonnes of timber were avoided through reusable packaging systems (Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation, via Planet Ark).
Is that pallet yours to take?
Not if it's blue, as a rule. CHEP's UK site says its pallets are painted blue and marked with its logo or "Property of CHEP", and that any sale, trade or secondary use of them is prohibited. Its Australian equipment guide says every CHEP pallet here is on hire, with someone paying for it by the day. Loscam runs a hire pool too, and its spec sheet makes the hirer responsible for how its pallets are used and stored.
Leave hire pallets out of your projects. And never take pallets from a business without permission, as the same US guide advises.
13 ways to reuse or recycle timber pallets
Each of these assumes a sound pallet stamped HT or DH. Sand it first, and punch any nails that stand proud below the surface. The first eleven are things to build, and the last two are for pallets you'd rather see go.
1. A bookshelf
Stand a pallet on its end against a wall and nail a slat across the bottom of each gap between the top slats. Each gap becomes a shelf. Screw it to the wall studs so it can't tip over, which matters more in a kid's room, where shelves get climbed.
2. A garden bench
One pallet makes the seat. A second one, cut down, makes the backrest. Give it a coat of exterior paint or decking oil, add a couple of outdoor cushions, and it'll see out a few summers on the patio.
3. A bed base or day bed
Lay pallets side by side, two layers high, until the base is the size of your mattress. Spend most of your sanding time on the top face, because splinters and bedding don't mix. A strip of outdoor LED lights tucked underneath is the usual finishing touch.
4. A swing seat
A swing carries a person, so be fussier here than anywhere else on this list. Inspect the pallet first, pick one with no cracked or missing slats, hang it on hardware rated for the weight from a beam or branch you trust, and check the ropes every season. It's play equipment. Any pallet you're unsure about goes back on the pile.
5. A painted wall panel
Paint a pallet slat by slat in different colours and it becomes a feature for a hallway or a balcony. Screw small pots along it for herbs or trailing plants. Start with a bare pallet, though. The NSW EPA warns that most old painted timber is likely to contain lead-based paint, so don't sand one that's already painted.
6. A wine rack
Bottles slide neck-first between the top and bottom decks. Mount it on studs, because a full rack gets heavy, and keep it out of the afternoon sun.
7. A mug and plate rack
Cup hooks along the top slat take mugs, and plates stand in the gaps once you add a rail across the front. Keep pallet timber away from anything you cut or prepare food on. The US researchers recommend against making chopping boards from pallets because there's no knowing what a pallet was exposed to.
8. Photo frames, plaques and a clock
Offcut slats are the right size for small pieces. Glue four into a frame, stencil a house number onto one, or join three side by side, cut a round and fit a battery clock movement through the middle.
9. A garden cart
Fix a pallet deck to an axle with a pair of wheels and add a handle. Now you've got a flatbed for pots, bags of potting mix and whatever you've just picked. Old trolley or pram wheels do the job.
10. A screen or low fence
Stood on end and fixed to posts, pallets make a quick screen to hide the wheelie bins or the compost. Two or three in a row also make a low fence that keeps the dog out of the vegie patch.
11. A drinks cooler stand
Box an esky in with pallet slats and put a hinged lid on top. Add a bottle opener to one side and it sits on the deck at the next barbecue looking like furniture rather than a plastic box.
12. Pass it on
If a pallet is sound and you don't need it, give it away. A free listing on a local buy-swap page is worth trying before anything else. Say it goes to whoever collects.
13. Send it to a timber recycler
Pallets past saving get dismantled and processed into particleboard, wood chips, mulch, animal bedding and biomass fuel, according to Planet Ark. Some pallet suppliers run return schemes, sometimes for a credit, and pallet repairers, commercial composters and timber waste grinders take waste pallets too. Planet Ark's Recycling Near You directory lists recyclers that take timber pallets, and it's worth a phone call before you turn up with a trailer full of them. Some of the recyclers listed only accept commercial quantities.
Taking wooden pallets apart safely
Many of the pallet injuries those researchers studied happened while people were pulling pallets apart. Pallet nails usually have a screw shank, which makes them very hard to pull out, so prying a slat off takes more force than people expect and it tends to split. Wear thick gloves against broken slats and rusty nails. Never kick or jump on a pallet to break it.
Cutting the slats free is often easier, but watch the saw, because a blade that hits a nail can kick back. Eye protection and a dust mask go on for the sanding. And get a second person to lift. Over-exertion and pallets dropped on feet caused many of the injuries the researchers reviewed.
Can you burn old pallets?
Not if the pallet is stamped MB, painted or chemically treated. The Penn State guide says never to burn any treated timber product, pallet parts included. Burnt treated timber gives off toxic chemicals, according to the NSW EPA, so a sausage cooked over it is off the menu too. Painted timber is no better.
Whether you can light an outdoor fire at all in Sydney is a separate question. Our guide to putting timber in the green bin covers the burning rules, along with which council bins take any timber.
Pallets you can't use or give away
Don't count on the council. North Sydney's household pick-up won't accept wooden pallets. In the City of Sydney, pallets left out for a bulky collection stay where they are and may attract a fine.
For a stack that's past reusing, Paul's pallet removal takes the lot away to the tip, and Paul's team brings them out from wherever they've been stacked, whether that's a driveway, a garage or the back of a shop. Paul recycles what he can, where it's appropriate. If you book before midday, the stack can usually go that same day. If the pallets are mixed in with other timber, see timber removal for a free quote.
