Reuse ledger, year to date: 41,200 totes diverted from Texas landfills this year. 2,060k lb of HDPE kept in service. 1,772k lb of steel cage recovered. 3,140 tons of CO₂e avoided. 92% of our wash water recycled on site. 68 Texas counties served from one Austin yard. Full methodology at /sustainability/reuse-ledger.

Industry · Construction & Concrete

Cheap enough to be consumable, tough enough not to be.

Construction is where totes take the most abuse and where reuse economics work hardest. A tote that a chemical packer would reject for cosmetic cage scuffing is perfectly sound for holding curing compound in a laydown yard.

IBC totes staged on a port terminal apron beside stacked shipping containers and gantry cranes

The short answer

On a jobsite the tote's advantage is that a forklift or skid steer can move it, and if it gets destroyed you are out a few hundred dollars, not a few thousand. Buy the cheapest sound grade (B or C), buy more than you think you need, and plan to recycle them through us at the end of the job instead of paying to dump them.

From the yard

Flatbed trailer loaded with two rows of IBC totes secured with straps, hooked to a blue tractor unit — Twenty on the floor of a 48-foot flatbed. Forty if they're empty.

IBC totes strapped two high inside a box trailer with timber dunnage between the layers — Empties double-stacked and strapped over the cage rail — never over the bottle.

B or C — sound, cosmetically rough

Recommended grade

Flatbed, 20 totes per 48' trailer floor

Jobsite delivery

We collect and recycle, credit applied

End-of-job takeback

Price steps at 10 / 24 / 48 units

Bulk break

We deliberately keep a C-grade tier — structurally sound, cosmetically rough, honestly priced — because it is exactly what contractors need and because it keeps thousands of totes a year out of the shredder.

Applications

What construction & concrete actually does with them

Specific uses, with the details that decide whether a tote works well or badly for each one.

Jobsite water & dust suppression

Before the meter is set, the water comes in on a trailer. Two or three totes on a pallet jack cover masonry mixing, saw cooling and dust control for a small crew's day.

Concrete admixtures & curing compound

Admixture suppliers deliver in totes. Keeping a small return fleet means you buy in bulk instead of in 5-gallon pails, and the price per gallon typically drops 20–30%.

Form release & release agent

Precast yards run form release from totes with a 12V pump and a spray wand. A B-grade tote with a clean bottle is more than adequate; the release agent does not care about cosmetic cage rust.

Concrete washout containment

Cut-top totes make legal, movable washout containment that keeps high-pH slurry off the ground and out of the storm drain. When it hardens, we take the tote back for HDPE recycling and the concrete gets crushed.

Erosion control & hydroseed

Tackifier and hydroseed slurry hold fine in a tote with an agitator port cut in the lid. We can cut and fit the port before delivery.

Recommended

What we'd put on the quote

Starting points. Tell us the specifics and we'll adjust.

Buy Used Totes
C-grade jobsite stock at the lowest price on the yard.
Recycling & Disposal
End-of-job takeback instead of a landfill fee.
Transport & Logistics
Jobsite drops with no dock and no forklift.

Compliance

What the rules expect

TCEQ construction general permit prohibits concrete washout discharge to storm sewers — contained washout is not optional.
Do not stack totes more than two high on unimproved ground; uneven bearing folds cages.
Placard any tote holding a chemical, even on a temporary site.

Specification

Typical spec sheet

What a construction & concrete order usually looks like when it leaves the yard.

Typical Construction & Concrete configuration
Attribute	Typical specification
Recommended grade	B or C — sound, cosmetically rough
Jobsite delivery	Flatbed, 20 totes per 48' trailer floor
End-of-job takeback	We collect and recycle, credit applied
Bulk break	Price steps at 10 / 24 / 48 units

Where the money goes wrong in this sector

The two failure modes are always the same: paying for documentation you do not need, or assuming documentation exists when it does not. In construction & concrete, on a jobsite the tote's advantage is that a forklift or skid steer can move it, and if it gets destroyed you are out a few hundred dollars, not a few thousand — that sentence is the whole shortcut.

If you are unsure which side of that line your application sits on, describe it in the form. We will tell you the cheaper option when the cheaper option is genuinely adequate, because the alternative — selling you the expensive one every time — is a business model that only works once per customer.

Construction & Concrete questions

+Do you deliver to sites with no forklift?

Yes. We run a truck with a moffett-style piggyback forklift for exactly this. Note it on the quote form under Message so dispatch schedules the right equipment.

+What is C-grade, honestly?

Sound bottle, no leaks, valve works, cage may be scuffed, dented or surface-rusted, and the label area is usually a mess. It will hold liquid for years. It will not look pretty doing it.

+Will you buy the totes back at the end of the job?

If they are intact and reasonably rinsed, yes. If they are full of hardened slurry, we will still take them for recycling — the HDPE and steel are recoverable — but the credit is smaller.

Other sectors

Not quite your industry?

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

Outlet thread

S60x6 — 60 mm coarse buttress. Not 2" NPT.

Grades published

N, R, F, A, B, C, X — applied at the wash bay.

Wash standards

W1 rinse through W4 caustic CIP at 160°F.

UN retest

Leakproofness 2.5 yrs, requalification 5 yrs.

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.

All 32 articles

On the yard this week

Wide view of a warehouse hall filled with reconditioned IBC totes on polished concrete — Covered inventory. What you see on the rack is what goes on your truck.

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.

Read the full FAQ

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)
Email: sales@ibctotestexas.com
Coverage: 68 Texas counties on scheduled routes, from one Austin yard.

+What makes a used tote food grade?

Three things at once: an FDA 21 CFR 177.1520 compliant HDPE bottle, a documented history in which every prior content was edible, and a wash to a written standard with recorded parameters. Missing any one and the honest description is 'clean'.

+What if the totes arrive worse than described?

Tell us within 48 hours with photos and we make it right: replacement, credit or collection. It happens rarely, because the person who grades a tote is the person who washed it.

+Why don't you publish prices?

Because a published list would be either wrong or so hedged it tells you nothing. Price depends on grade, quantity, valve spec, pallet type and freight distance. Send the form and you get a real number the same business day.

+How should I store totes through a Texas freeze?

Leave headspace — water expands about 9% freezing and an over-full tote splits at the shoulder. Drain exposed plumbing and keep valves closed rather than trusting a hose bib.

+Can you deliver with no forklift on site?

Yes — we run a moffett-equipped truck with a piggyback forklift for exactly this. Note it on the form so dispatch sends the right equipment.

Send a construction & concrete request.

Application, volume and destination. You'll have a written price, a grade recommendation and a delivery date the same business day.

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