When Riverside Pallet Co. first opened our recycling facility in 2016, our material recovery rate was around 82%. Good by industry standards, but we knew we could do better. Here's the story of how we reached 98% — and our goal to hit 99.5%.
The first breakthrough came from rethinking our sorting process. We invested in a more granular grading system that allowed us to identify repair opportunities that we'd previously been missing. Pallets that would have been sent directly to the chipper were now being repaired and returned to service.
Next, we tackled our wood waste stream. Instead of sending all unusable wood to a single chipper, we installed a secondary sorting line that separates wood by species, size, and condition. This allows us to produce higher-value products — dimensional lumber for repairs, premium mulch for landscaping, and clean chips for biomass.
The sawdust problem was solved with a pelletizing machine. Previously, sawdust from our operations was collected and hauled to a disposal site. Now, it's compressed into fuel pellets that are sold to local heating companies. What was a waste disposal cost became a revenue stream.
Metal recovery was optimized with a new magnetic separation system. We went from recovering about 85% of metal fasteners to over 99%. The recovered metal is sold to scrap recyclers and eventually becomes new nails, tools, and building materials.
Contaminated wood — pallets with paint, chemicals, or other substances — was our biggest challenge. We partnered with a specialized waste-to-energy facility that converts contaminated wood into electricity. This eliminated our last significant waste stream.
In 2018, we achieved Zero Waste certification, defined as diverting more than 90% of waste from landfills. Our actual rate was 96%. By 2023, we'd reached 98%. Today, less than 2% of materials entering our facility leave as waste — and even that small fraction goes to waste-to-energy, not landfill.
The journey taught us that zero waste isn't one big innovation — it's hundreds of small improvements, relentlessly pursued. Every fraction of a percent matters, and every waste stream is an opportunity in disguise.