IBC ToteTexas

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.

Product · new

Sometimes new
is the right answer.
Usually it isn’t.

We stock and supply new composite IBCs because a handful of applications genuinely require them. We also tell you when yours isn't one of them, because selling you twice the carbon and twice the price for no benefit is not a business we want.

Rows of used 275 gallon composite IBC totes stacked two high in an outdoor yard under a blue sky

The short answer

Buy new when your specification prohibits reconditioned containers, when you need an unbroken manufacturer certification chain for regulated hazmat, or when container-level certification such as NSF/ANSI 61 is required. In every other case a rebottled unit performs the same job at 55–65% of the cost and roughly 38% of the embodied carbon.

Price new units

Tell us the specification and the reason it has to be new — if rebottled would pass, we'll say so.

We reply here, so it has to be an inbox you actually read.

US or Canadian number, 10 digits. We format it as you type.

Two-letter code or full name — checked against your postal code.

5-digit US ZIP, or a Canadian postal code like K1A 0B1.

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From the yard

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.
Close-up of a single 275 gallon IBC tote showing its capacity label, UN placard and blue ball valve
A 275 with the plate, the capacity label and a standard 2-inch ball valve.

The decision

Four situations where new is genuinely correct

If none of these describe your job, read the rebottled page before you spend the difference.

Regulated hazmat with an audited chain

Some shipping programmes require a container whose certification history begins at the manufacturer and has never been interrupted. A reconditioner's requalification is legally valid but does not satisfy every corporate specification.

Container-level certification requirements

NSF/ANSI 61 and similar programmes certify the manufactured container, not the resin. That certification does not carry over to a reconditioned unit — if your spec cites it, you need new.

Customer or contract prohibition

Plenty of large buyers simply write 'no reconditioned containers' into a supply agreement. Arguing with it costs more than complying with it.

Pharmaceutical and high-purity work

Where extractables and leachables testing is part of your validation, a documented virgin bottle in a documented virgin assembly is the only sane starting point.

Specification

What we supply new

New composite IBC configurations
CapacityDimensions (in)PalletUN codeTypical lead time
275 gal / 1,040 L48 × 40 × 46Composite / steel / plastic31HA1/Y8–10 weeks
330 gal / 1,250 L48 × 40 × 53Composite / steel31HA1/Y8–10 weeks
264 gal / 1,000 L48 × 40 × 46Composite / steel31HA1/Y8–10 weeks
350 gal / 1,325 L48 × 40 × 56Steel31HA1/Y10–12 weeks
120 gal / 450 L40 × 32 × 39Plastic31HA1/Y10–12 weeks

The comparison

New against rebottled, plainly

A new tote gives you a virgin bottle, a virgin cage, virgin hardware and an unbroken certification chain. A rebottled tote gives you a virgin bottle, virgin hardware, a reconditioned cage and a requalified certification.

The physical difference between them is the condition of a galvanized steel frame that was designed for a twenty-year service life. The price difference is roughly 40%. The carbon difference is roughly 60%.

For the majority of Texas buyers — chemical distribution, food manufacturing, water treatment, agriculture — the rebottled unit is not a compromise. It is the correct specification, and the new unit is over-buying.

See rebottled units

Cost, carbon and time
NewRebottled
BottleVirgin HDPEVirgin HDPE
CageNew galvanizedInspected, straightened, re-coated
CertificationManufacturer design typeRequalified by registered facility
Price index10055–65
Relative CO₂e100≈ 38
Lead time8–10 weeks1–3 weeks
Fails an audit when…Almost neverSpec prohibits reconditioned units

The honest sustainability note

Manufacturing a new composite IBC consumes roughly 50 lb of virgin HDPE, 43 lb of steel, a pallet base, and the energy to mould, weld, galvanize and assemble all of it. Our own figure, from EPA WARM factors applied to those masses, is about 152 lb of CO₂e per unit avoided when a tote is reused rather than replaced.

None of that means new totes should not exist. It means each new tote should be bought for a reason. If you can articulate the reason, buy new with our blessing and we will supply it properly. If you cannot, you are buying an emissions event you did not need.

Put your actual order quantity into the reuse impact calculator and the difference stops being abstract.

Questions people actually ask

+Why does a reuse company sell new totes at all?
Because sometimes it is the correct answer and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. Regulated hazmat programmes needing an unbroken certification chain, pharmaceutical and potable applications with container-level certification requirements, and customer specifications that explicitly prohibit reconditioned containers all genuinely require new units.
+What is the lead time on new totes?
Eight to ten weeks is typical for a specified configuration, sometimes longer for non-standard valve or lid combinations. If your project cannot absorb that, rebottled units are available in one to three weeks and will do the same job in most applications.
+Do new totes come with certification paperwork?
Yes — the manufacturer's UN design type approval and test report, plus the moulded and plated markings on the unit itself. That documentation is the actual product you are paying the premium for.
+How much more do new totes cost?
Roughly 55 to 80% more than an equivalent rebottled unit, and three to five times a sound Grade B used tote. The gap is why we ask what the tote is for before quoting new.

Related

Before you commit to new

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

Rows of used 275 gallon composite IBC totes stacked two high in an outdoor yard under a blue sky
Graded stock on the outdoor rows, stacked two high and waiting on a grade tag.
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.

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.

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)
Coverage
68 Texas counties on scheduled routes, from one Austin yard.

+Will you take totes that held chemicals?
Most of them, with the prior contents in writing. Some chemistries permanently permeate HDPE; those units go to material recovery rather than back into service, but we'll still take them off your yard.
+How many totes fit on a truck?
Twenty on the floor of a 48-foot flatbed or dry van, regardless of whether they're 275s or 330s. Forty if they're empty and double-stacked.
+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.
+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.
+Do you buy used totes?
Yes — it's half the business. Anywhere in Texas, from a handful behind a brewery to several hundred on a chemical yard. Send photos and prior contents and we'll price them the same day.

Tell us why it has to be new.

If the reason holds up, we'll quote new and supply it correctly. If it doesn't, we'll show you the rebottled option and let you decide with the numbers in front of you.

Get a quoteCompare rebottled