Austin, Texas · Since 2011
Every tote we sell
is one nobody
had to make.
We buy, wash, rebottle, haul and re-sell intermediate bulk containers out of one yard on Montopolis Drive. 275s, 330s, food grade, industrial, and the odd 550. Honest grades, real stock, and a landfill that stays emptier for it.
- totes diverted / yr
- 41,200totes diverted / yr
- CO₂e avoided / yr
- 3,140tCO₂e avoided / yr
- Texas counties
- 68Texas counties
- typical turnaround
- 48htypical turnaround
Grade F · Grade A · Grade B — all three came back
01 — What we actually do
Six things happen to a tote here. Only one of them is selling it.
Most sellers are brokers with a parking lot. We run intake, grading, washing, rebottling, fabrication and recovery on the same twelve acres, which is why our grades mean something and our lead times are short.
02 — The grading system
Seven grades, published, and applied by the person who washed it.
Most of the used-tote industry grades by vibe. We publish exactly what each code means, print it on the intake tag, and reference it on every quote.
Grade N
New
Never filled. Full UN certification, full price.
Price index 100
Grade R
Rebottled
New bottle, reconditioned cage and pallet. The honest middle.
Price index 55–65
Grade F
Food Grade
Only ever held edible product. Documented and caustic washed.
Price index 38–48
Grade A
Grade A
Clean, straight, presentable. The general-purpose default.
Price index 30–38
All seven grades, side by side, with what each one is genuinely good for →
03 — The whole point
Reuse beats recycling. Here's the arithmetic.
Recycling a tote melts 50 lb of HDPE back to pellets and loses most of its value. Reusing one keeps the bottle, the cage, the pallet and the hardware doing exactly what they were built to do. Move the slider.
Reuse impact calculator
What your order keeps out of the ground
EPA WARM v16 + yard metering
Figures compare buying reconditioned against manufacturing the same number of new composite IBCs — bottle, cage, pallet and hardware, cradle-to-gate. They do not count the freight, because you pay that either way.
3,648lb CO₂e
Emissions avoided
That's 1.8 short tons — roughly 4,099 miles not driven.
1,200lb
Virgin HDPE avoided
Bottle, caps and closures that never had to be moulded.
1,032lb
Steel kept in service
Cage, tubular frame and pallet base, still doing their job.
7,440gal
Process water avoided
About 433 showers' worth of industrial water.
2,304kWh
Energy avoided
Roughly 78 days of an average US household.
1,512cu ft
Landfill volume not consumed
Composite IBCs do not compact. Every one buried holds its full volume forever.
2.06M
lb HDPE kept in service / yr
Not downcycled into decking. Still holding liquid.
1.77M
lb steel cage recovered / yr
Steel is where the embodied energy hides.
92%
of our wash water recycled
Closed-loop filtration on the wash pad since 2019.
04 — Know what you're buying
An IBC tote is six parts. Five of them almost never wear out.
This is the single most useful thing you can understand before you buy used: which parts fail, which parts don't, and why replacing one 50 lb bottle beats replacing a whole container.
Tap a marker — no JavaScript required
Component
6" or 9" screw lid
The fill opening. Six-inch is standard; nine-inch shows up on food-grade and high-viscosity units because you can get a cleaning head through it. Vented lids stop the bottle collapsing when you draw down fast — solid lids seal for transport. Know which one you own before you empty a tote in a hurry.
Standard: 6" coarse thread
Component
Blow-moulded HDPE bottle
Roughly 50 lb of high-density polyethylene, blow-moulded in one piece. This is the only part that ever really wears out: it can absorb aggressive chemistry, craze under UV, or take a puncture. Everything around it usually outlives it several times over — which is exactly why rebottling exists.
≈50 lb HDPE · FDA 21 CFR 177.1520 when food grade
Component
Welded tubular steel cage
The galvanized lattice that takes the load, allows stacking, and gives the whole thing its silhouette. About 43 lb of steel with a very high embodied-energy figure. A straight cage with sound welds is worth reconditioning almost regardless of what the bottle looks like.
≈43 lb galvanized steel
Component
UN marking plate
The riveted or moulded plate carrying the UN specification — typically 31HA1/Y — plus the build date, manufacturer code and test pressure. If you intend to ship regulated product, this plate and its retest dates are the difference between a legal shipment and a violation.
31HA1 / Y · retest every 2.5 years
Component
S60x6 outlet and valve
Almost every composite IBC discharges through a 60 mm coarse buttress thread. A quarter-turn ball valve is the default; a full-port butterfly valve is the upgrade worth paying for if your product is thick. Adapters take you from S60x6 to 2" NPT, camlock or garden hose in one part.
S60x6 → 2" NPT / camlock / GHT
Component
Composite, steel or plastic base
Four-way forklift entry and the reason a 2,400 lb vessel can be moved by one person on a machine. Composite is the common default, steel survives lease roads, plastic wins in washdown environments, and wood is on its way out of the food chain entirely.
22–44 lb depending on type
Component
Graduated level strip
The translucent vertical band moulded into the bottle. Cheap, crude, and the single most useful feature on the tote — you can read remaining volume from twenty feet away without opening anything. It is also the first thing to go opaque when a tote stains, which is one reason stained totes drop a grade.
Readable to roughly ±10 gallons
05 — On the yard
What's here right now
Stock moves daily, but these categories are always represented. Every product page carries real specs, real limitations and an honest note about what it is not good for.
- 275 Gallon IBC Totes48×40×46. The default. Roughly 80% of everything we move.
- 330 Gallon IBC TotesSame footprint, seven inches taller, 55 more gallons.
- Food Grade IBC TotesDocumented prior contents, caustic washed, records attached.
- Rebottled IBC TotesNew bottle, reconditioned cage. The honest middle option.
- Rainwater & Water StorageOpaque, algae-resistant configurations for Texas sun.
- Second-Life BuildsPlanters, wicking beds, wash stations, aquaponics frames.
- Accessories & PartsValves, adapters, pumps, lids, covers, containment.
- New IBC TotesWhen your specification genuinely requires virgin.
- Full Size ChartSeven sizes, every dimension, tare and gross weight.
06 — How an order runs
Four steps, no salespeople, no phone tag.
We do not have a phone number. Everything runs through email and the form above, which means every commitment we make to you is in writing and nothing evaporates between the office and the forklift.
- STEP 01
You send the form
Quantity, product, grade if you know it, and where it's going. Thirty seconds if you know what you want, two minutes if you don't.
- STEP 02
We walk the rows
A real person checks what is actually on the ground against what you asked for, and tells you if a different grade would serve you better and cheaper.
- STEP 03
You get a written quote
Unit price, grade, valve spec, freight and a delivery date. Same business day, in writing, no follow-up call.
- STEP 04
It ships or you collect
Flatbed, van, hotshot or moffett, or bring a truck to Montopolis Drive and we'll load you for free.
07 — Who buys from us
Eight industries, eight completely different definitions of 'good enough'.
A brewery and a jobsite superintendent both want a 275-gallon tote. They should not be buying the same one. These pages explain what each sector actually needs.
- Agriculture & RanchingWater where the windmill isn't.
- Food & BeverageDocumented contents or it isn't food grade.
- Breweries & DistilleriesBoth sides of the brewhouse wall.
- Construction & ConcreteCheap enough to be consumable, tough enough not to be.
- Oil, Gas & EnergyThe most tote-intensive industry in the state.
- Municipal & WaterBid-friendly stock, incident-free totes.
- Landscaping & NurseriesThe tote that becomes the planter.
- Chemical & IndustrialThe paperwork matters as much as the plastic.
08 — Where we deliver
One yard. Sixty-eight counties.
Consolidated routes are what make a four-tote order to San Antonio or a two-tote drop in Temple financially sane. Here is the schedule, honestly stated.
- AustinThe yardDaily routes, same-day pickup at the yard
- San Antonio80 miTwice weekly, Tuesday and Thursday
- Houston165 miWeekly consolidated run, plus dedicated loads
- Dallas–Fort Worth195 miWeekly consolidated run, Wednesday out
- Waco & Temple100 miWeekly, on the DFW route
- San Marcos & New Braunfels35 miTwice weekly, on the San Antonio route
- College Station & Bryan105 miWeekly, Thursday out
- Corpus Christi215 miBiweekly consolidated, dedicated on 25+ units
- Midland–Odessa320 miMonthly consolidated, dedicated loads on demand
- Victoria130 miBiweekly, on the Coastal Bend route
09 — Straight answers
The questions we get every week.
+What does an IBC tote cost in Austin?
+Are used IBC totes safe for drinking water?
+Do you buy totes as well as sell them?
+How fast can I get totes?
+What is the difference between a 275 and a 330 gallon tote?
+Where are you located?
Quick reference
Numbers worth having open in another tab
The figures that come up in almost every conversation, whichever page you arrived on.
275 gallon · 1040 L
48×40×46
- Tare
- 130 lb
- Gross, water
- 2,425 lb
- Stack full
- 2 high
- Stock
- Always in stock
330 gallon · 1250 L
48×40×53
- Tare
- 160 lb
- Gross, water
- 2,915 lb
- Stack full
- 2 high
- Stock
- Always in stock
264 gallon · 1000 L
48×40×46
- Tare
- 125 lb
- Gross, water
- 2,325 lb
- Stack full
- 2 high
- Stock
- Usually in stock
350 gallon · 1325 L
48×40×56
- Tare
- 175 lb
- Gross, water
- 3,095 lb
- Stack full
- 2 high
- Stock
- Order in
From the yard notes
Longer reading on this
32 articles written by the people who wash, grade, weld and dispatch. No marketing copy in any of them.
- Texas · November 21, 2023 · 3 minWhat a Texas Freeze Does to Stored WaterWater expands nine percent. A brimful container has nowhere to put it, and the shoulder is where it gives.
- Industry · April 6, 2022 · 3 minSpent Grain and the Open-Top ConversionOne cut container holds a full 15-barrel batch of wet grain and forklifts straight onto the farmer's trailer.
- Reconditioning · May 22, 2024 · 3 minHow a Container Moves Through Our Yard, Gate by GateEight zones, four decision gates, and one direction of travel. Where a container exits determines what we can honestly sell it as.
On the yard this week
More answers
While you're here
Pulled from the full FAQ, which runs to forty-plus answers across buying, grades, food safety, sizes, selling, compliance, delivery and care.
- Where we are
- 3505 Montopolis Dr, Austin, TX 78744
- Yard hours
- Mon–Thu 7:30a–5p · Fri 7:30a–4p · Sat 8a–12p · Sun closed (Central Time)
- Coverage
- 68 Texas counties on scheduled routes, from one Austin yard.
+What if the totes arrive worse than described?
+Why don't you publish prices?
+Can I clean a tote myself?
+Do you ship outside Texas?
+Does a used tote keep its UN rating?
Get a written quote today, not a callback tomorrow.
Yard hours are Mon–Thu 7:30a–5p · Fri 7:30a–4p · Sat 8a–12p · Sun closed (Central Time). Send the form or email sales@ibctotestexas.com — either lands in the same inbox, and both get read by someone who can actually see the stock.