 |
|
LOCAL GOVERNMENT CASE STUDY: |
PITT COUNTY -
PALLET RECYCLING |
Pitt County began offering pallet recycling services in 1991 as part of its yard waste diversion program. To provide a financial incentive to recycle and separate these items, tipping fees were waived for both yard waste and pallets. A designated area at the yard waste site is dedicated to pallet recycling. Although no specific sign is posted for the pallet recycling area, a sign at the entrance to the facility indicates that “yard waste, pallets and unpainted, untreated wood” are accepted for recycling. Customers are simply asked to stack the pallets in the designated area.
Pitt County uses a contract grinder, Simons & Simons, to grind the pallets and other yard waste on site. The ground material is sold to various end-markets, the majority of which is goes to Weyerhaeuser for boiler fuel. Some of the ground material is held by the county and made available free to citizens for use as mulch. In addition, the pallet site is open to the public to hand pick whatever useable pallets they would like to take. Pitt offers these useable pallets free of charge as a service to its citizens and to save of grinding costs.
A front loader and labor from other landfill operations are used to minimally manage the pallet and mulch piles. As these were capital expenses necessary for the operation of other landfill services, overall cost to implement and manage the program is minimal. Grinding services were negotiated at a competitive rate and the county currently pays $13.50 per ton ($11,500 per year) for that service.
Pitt County estimates that the county recycles approximately 850 tons of pallets each year.
Pallets to be ground are stacked by customers
in
the designated area shown above at Pitt
County’s
yard waste processing facility.
March 2006
For a PDF of this case study, click here.
| 
