Some are reused, but the majority are unsuitable for shipping finished UFI products. Pallet recyclers abound, but shipping costs can make pallet recycling prohibitive. This was UFI's problem, and most of their pallets wound up in the local landfill. In 1994, a high school senior from Frankfort approached Todd about taking the pallets. Today his company reconditions and resells some of UFI's pallets, and grinds the rest for mulch.
Weekly pickups minimize storage problems.
According to Baldwin, the processes used at UFI are identical to that of an automobile manufacturer, only on a much smaller scale. To recover nickel from the process, the nickel plating line utilizes a reverse osmosis unit. A copper recovery unit is employed on the copper plating line to recover copper which has a purity rate greater than 99 percent. The recovered copper can be reused in the copper anode plating bath. Because electroplating sludge is a listed hazardous waste, this made all the sludge hazardous.