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.

Service area · Gulf Coast

IBC totes in
Houston.

The Houston petrochemical complex generates more used IBCs than any other metro in North America. Chemical packers, blenders, distributors and terminal operators cycle enormous fleets, and a large share of those units are perfectly recoverable when they come off program.

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

The short answer

Houston is where most of Texas's totes are born and where most of them die. We run a weekly consolidated route into the Ship Channel and Fort Bend industrial corridor, and we will send a dedicated 48-foot flatbed for any order or buy-back over about thirty units.

From the yard

Outdoor tote yard beside a metal warehouse with the Texas flag flying overhead — The yard on a working Tuesday. Everything ships from one site in southeast Austin.

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.

165 mi

from the Austin yard

3505 Montopolis Dr, Austin, TX 78744

2 hr 40 min

drive time

via SH-71 and I-10

counties on this route

Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Galveston, Montgomery, Waller

totes per trailer floor

Forty if they're empty.

Our Houston work is heavily weighted toward buy-back and rebottling. We collect empties from chemical yards, evaluate the cage and pallet, replace bottles that have absorbed product, and redeploy the units — often back into the same corridor they came from.

For buyers, Houston demand runs to UN-marked rebottled units, industrial B-grade for waste and wash service, and food-grade stock for the substantial food and beverage manufacturing base out toward Katy and Stafford.

Demand

What Houston buys

Every market has a shape. This is what actually moves on this route.

Chemical packaging & blending

UN 31HA1 rebottled units with current retest dates — the highest-spec demand we serve.

Port & terminal operations

Wash-water, absorbent slurry and waste-oil collection in dedicated B-grade totes.

Food & beverage manufacturing

Syrup, oil and concentrate handling in documented food-grade units.

Logistics

How it gets there

Weekly consolidated route; dedicated flatbed for 30+ units either direction.
Field and yard buy-back pickups priced from photos before the truck rolls.
We can stage collected units in Houston and haul on a full load to keep freight per unit low.

Route detail

Schedule and counties

Houston route
Attribute	Detail
Region	Gulf Coast
Distance from yard	165 miles
Drive time	2 hr 40 min via SH-71 and I-10
Cadence	Weekly consolidated run, plus dedicated loads
Counties served	Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Galveston, Montgomery, Waller
Buy-back pickup	20+ units, free, on the return leg
Yard pickup	3505 Montopolis Dr, Austin, TX 78744 — Mon–Thu 7:30a–5p · Fri 7:30a–4p · Sat 8a–12p · Sun closed (Central Time)

What we deliver here

Most-requested stock on this route

Houston questions

+We have 200 empties behind our plant. Will you take them?

Almost certainly yes. Send photos of a representative sample plus the prior contents list through the quote form. We price it, schedule a flatbed, and handle the load-out.

+Do you sell UN-marked totes into Houston?

Yes, rebottled units with valid markings and documented requalification. Read the compliance guide first so you know exactly what you are buying and what your obligations are as the offeror.

Other routes

Elsewhere in Texas

Not in Houston itself?

The route covers Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Galveston, Montgomery, Waller and everything on the roads between here and there. Send your ZIP through the form and we will tell you which run serves you and when the next cut-off is — or see the full service area schedule.

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

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.

+Which grade should I buy?

The cheapest one that genuinely does the job. For water and general industrial duty that's usually B. For anything edible it's F or rebottled. For regulated chemical shipping it's rebottled with valid UN marking. For washout containment and cutting projects it's C.

+Can I buy a single tote?

Yes. Plenty of customers buy one for a garden, a workshop or a wash station. Pickup at the yard is the cheapest route for a single unit.

+How long does an IBC tote last?

The steel cage runs 15 to 25 years. The bottle depends entirely on contents — one to three fills of aggressive chemistry, or five to ten years of benign service. That asymmetry is why rebottling exists.

+Can I pick up at the yard?

Yes, and it's the cheapest option. Bring a truck that takes a 48 × 40 pallet, ratchet straps and closed-toe shoes. We load with a forklift at no charge.

+Can I transport fuel in an IBC tote?

Not on public roads — totes are not DOT-approved for it. Static storage on private property, properly placarded and contained, is a different question and is generally permissible subject to local fire code.

Next run to Houston.

Weekly consolidated run, plus dedicated loads. Send your unit count and ZIP and we'll confirm which truck you're on and what the freight looks like.

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