Wooden Pallet Chemicals

[OnionKnightParticipant]

Hey everyone,

Have a question regarding wooden pallets and hoped some light could be shed.

Me and my girlfriend recently got a plot on an allotment and must thank Charles & Stephanie for inspiring us – your books and videos on YouTube really are wonderful.

I’ve been looking to make some compost bins and pallets seem a good way.

After researching I found certain types weren’t recommended such as those treated with Methyl Bromide (MB). People seem to advise Heat Treated (HT) or Kiln Dried (KD).

However, I wasn’t sure if the image attached was only when using them for carpentry purposes (sanding down, etc). Would using them outside without altering them leech chemicals into the compost?

I noticed in the latest video “Hotbed in the garden for early carrots, February to May Part 1” there’s two blue marked pallets being used – so I assume there’s no problem.

Do people here pay attention to the stamp marks on pallets or just use whichever they find?

Thanks in advance!

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[CleansweepParticipant]

All that I know:
Pallets for export/import are required to be treated (against wood boring insects)
Some pallets may have been used to transport tins and packs of noxious product. Pallets are recycled in transport- who knows where they’ve been .Just avoid clearly stained, dirty ones.
Allow to stand out in rain for a rinse.
No known issues during my use of palletwood have been attributed to contamination from this source.
Blue pallets are the property of CHEP* and ‘should not’ be re-purposed. IE you cannot legally be in possession of them without a rental contract, only made with major shippers.
*https://www.chep.com/uk/en/consumer-goods/platforms/pallets/wooden-uk-pallet

[WelliesParticipant]

I didn’t know about the methyl bromide treated ones. I shall look out for those. We have had hundreds here. They all disintegrate and rot very quickly here in wet Pembrokeshire so I don’t think the majority are treated at all.
I have given up trying to use wooden pallets for storing things on. They disintegrate. I have just had a pallet amnesty and gathered them all up and spent two days solid chopping them all up into a mountain of firewood.

[Author]

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