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 · we buy

Those empties
behind your building
are worth money.

Most businesses treat used totes as a disposal problem. They are an asset with a market, and every one that goes into a dumpster is roughly 93 lb of recoverable material and several hundred dollars of container heading into a hole in the ground.

Wide view of a warehouse hall filled with reconditioned IBC totes on polished concrete

The short answer

Send photographs of a representative sample plus a list of prior contents. We price the batch the same business day, collect free at 20 units or more anywhere in Texas, and pay in cash or account credit. Rinsed and drained is the only real requirement.

From the yard

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.

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.

20+

units for free pickup

Anywhere in Texas, on a return leg.

Same day

pricing from photos

Sent before mid-afternoon.

93 lb

recoverable material per tote

50 lb HDPE, 43 lb steel.

Cash

or account credit

Credit is usually worth more.

Process

From photo to pickup

STEP 01
Photograph a sample
Six or eight units is plenty if the batch is consistent. Get the cage corners, the bottle, the valve and the UN plate if there is one. Phone photos are fine.
STEP 02
Send prior contents
A list is enough — product names or a chemical list. This determines what can be reused and what has to go to material recovery, and it is the one thing we cannot proceed without.
STEP 03
We price the batch
Same business day. You get a per-unit figure by condition tier, the pickup arrangement, and whether it's cash or credit.
STEP 04
We collect
Free at 20 units and up, scheduled onto an existing route where possible. You load or we bring a moffett — tell us which.

Valuation

What makes a tote worth more

Cage condition dominates. A straight cage with a compromised bottle is worth substantially more to us than a perfect bottle in a folded cage, because the cage is the part we cannot easily replace.

Buy-back valuation factors
Factor	Increases value	Decreases value
Cage condition	Straight frame, sound base welds, intact galvanizing	Cracked welds, deformed top frame, thinned tube wall
Bottle condition	Clear or lightly stained, no crazing, no odour retention	Heavy staining, permeation, cracks, chemical odour
Prior contents	Food product, water, benign chemistry, documented	Solvents, permanent-stain chemistry, unknown history
UN plate	Present, legible, recent build date	Missing, illegible, or very old
Valve and lid	Present, working, correct thread	Missing, cross-threaded, aftermarket mismatch
Pallet base	Composite or steel, intact, four-way entry	Wood, broken deck, missing feet
Cleanliness	Rinsed and drained	Residual product — we may not be able to accept it
Quantity	20+ for free pickup, 100+ for best per-unit rate	Small scattered batches at distance

Who sells to us

The pattern is remarkably consistent across industries: any business that receives liquid product in totes and does not have a supplier return programme ends up with a growing pile behind the building.

Chemical distributors and blenders — usually the largest batches, often several hundred units, most commonly on the Gulf Coast.
Oilfield operators and service companies — production chemical empties accumulating on leases and in yards across the Permian and Eagle Ford.
Food manufacturers — syrup, oil and concentrate totes that are worth real money because their history is documented.
Breweries and beverage producers — smaller batches, frequent, and usually on a route we already run.
Municipalities and utilities — treatment chemical empties, often on a disposal budget line that a buy-back turns into revenue.
Farms and ranches — fertilizer and supplement totes that have done their time.

Why this is worth your time

A dumpster pull for two dozen totes costs money. A buy-back for the same two dozen pays money, removes them faster, and produces a recycling manifest if your ESG reporting needs one. The arithmetic is not close.

The environmental side

Every tote we recover and return to service avoids roughly 152 lb of CO₂e against manufacturing a replacement, along with 50 lb of virgin HDPE and 43 lb of steel. At two dozen units that is nearly two tons of CO₂e — from a decision that also puts money in your account. Run your own numbers in the impact calculator.

What happens to what we buy
Condition	Destination
Sound bottle, straight cage	Wash, grade, resale
Compromised bottle, straight cage	Rebottling stream
Sound bottle, damaged cage	Cage replacement or fabrication stock
Stained but structural	Second-life builds — beds, bins, planters
Permeated or cracked	HDPE granulation, steel baling
Residual regulated waste	Declined — licensed disposal contractor required

Questions people actually ask

+How much are my used totes worth?

It depends almost entirely on cage condition and prior contents. A straight cage with a rinsed bottle and a readable UN plate carries the best value; a stained bottle in a bent cage is worth its material recovery. Send photos and the prior contents list and we'll price it the same day.

+Do you pick up, or do I have to deliver?

We pick up at 20 units or more anywhere in Texas at no charge — it rides a return leg. Below that, you can deliver to the yard or we'll quote a small collection fee if you're on a route we already run.

+Will you take totes that held chemicals?

Most of them, yes. We need the prior contents in writing. Some chemistries permanently permeate HDPE and those units go to material recovery rather than back into service — but we'll still take them off your yard rather than leave you with a disposal problem.

+What about totes with residual product?

Rinsed and drained is what we can accept. We are not a hazardous waste disposal facility and we cannot take regulated waste. If your totes still hold product, a licensed disposal contractor is the right call and we'll say so.

+Cash or credit?

Either. Credit against future purchases is typically worth more per unit, which suits operations that buy and return continuously. Straight payment suits everyone else.

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

Tote wash line under a canopy with a recycling sign reading clean, recondition, reuse, spraying a used IBC tote — The wash pad. Every unit gets a named standard, and the water goes back round.

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.

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.

+Are your totes NSF certified?

The resin in new and rebottled bottles meets FDA 21 CFR 177.1520. Container-level NSF/ANSI 61 certification is a manufacturer programme that does not carry over to reconditioned units. If your specification cites it, you need new containers and we'll tell you so.

+What about totes with product still in them?

Rinsed and drained only. We are not a hazardous waste disposal facility and cannot accept regulated waste. If your totes still hold product, you need a licensed disposal contractor.

+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.

+Are stained totes a problem?

Cosmetically yes, functionally usually not. Staining is a strong signal about prior contents, which is why stained units drop a grade, but a stained bottle holds liquid exactly as well as a clear one. It does make the level strip harder to read.

+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.

How many are sitting out there?

Send a rough count and the prior contents through the form, or email buyback@ibctotestexas.com directly. We'll come back the same business day with a number and a pickup date.

Get a buy-back price Set up a return program

Those emptiesbehind your buildingare worth money.

Get a buy-back price