Tool
Your order,
in tons.
Environmental claims are cheap. Arithmetic is not. Put your real order quantity into this and see exactly what buying reconditioned instead of new keeps out of the ground.
The short answer
Each reused 275 gallon composite IBC avoids approximately 152 lb CO₂e, 50 lb virgin HDPE, 43 lb steel, 310 gallons of process water, 96 kWh and 63 cubic feet of landfill volume, compared with manufacturing a new unit. Larger sizes scale proportionally by capacity.
From the yard
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.
Factors
What sits behind each number
Per 275 gallon composite IBC. Larger and smaller sizes scale by capacity, which is a simplification we describe honestly in the methodology.
| Metric | Per unit | Derivation |
|---|---|---|
| CO₂e avoided | 152 lb | EPA WARM v16 factors for HDPE and carbon steel applied to component masses, cradle-to-gate |
| Virgin HDPE avoided | 50 lb | Measured bottle, cap and closure mass across our own intake |
| Steel kept in service | 43 lb | Measured cage and tubular frame mass |
| Pallet material reused | 26 lb | Composite base, the most common configuration |
| Process water avoided | 310 gal | Published water intensity for virgin HDPE and primary steel production |
| Energy avoided | 96 kWh | Moulding, welding, galvanizing and assembly energy for a new unit |
| Landfill volume | 63 cu ft | Uncompacted external volume of a 275 gallon composite IBC |
How to read the output
The calculator answers one specific question: if you buy this many reconditioned totes instead of the same number of new ones, what does that avoid?
It does not tell you your total footprint, it does not account for what you put in the totes, and it is not a carbon offset. It is an avoided-impact estimate for a purchasing decision, which is a narrower and more defensible claim than most of what gets printed in sustainability sections.
Where the biggest number comes from
Steel. The galvanized cage is only 43 lb but carries a disproportionate share of the embodied energy, because primary steel production is energy-intensive and galvanizing adds more. That is why rebottling — which replaces the bottle and keeps the cage — captures most of the benefit of full reuse at a fraction of the cost of a new container.
Scaling by size
The size selector scales the factors by capacity ratio. That is approximately right and slightly conservative for larger units, because a 330 gallon tote uses proportionally less material per gallon than a 275. We have chosen not to model that advantage.
If you want the working
Every factor, source and assumption — including the three we are least confident about — is published on the methodology page. If you think we have a number wrong, tell us; we would rather correct it than defend it.
Questions people actually ask
+Can I use these figures in a sustainability report?
+Why doesn't the calculator include freight?
+What does 'against manufacturing new' mean exactly?
+Are these figures conservative?
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.
- Sustainability · July 21, 2022 · 3 minThe Hierarchy We Actually Follow at the GateEvery container that arrives gets assessed against four options in order. It only descends when the option above genuinely fails.
- Sustainability · November 16, 2022 · 3 minWhat 92% Water Recovery Actually MeansWashing containers could easily be a water disaster. Here's the plant that stops it being one, and the honest reason the number isn't 99%.
- Sustainability · September 14, 2023 · 3 minReverse Logistics Is the Whole ProblemForward logistics is a solved commercial problem because somebody gets paid for it. The empty coming back is nobody's job.
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.
+Do you ship outside Texas?
+How often does an IBC need retesting?
+How much are my empties worth?
+How much does a full 275 gallon tote weigh?
+What makes a used tote food grade?
Put the number on the purchase order.
Send your quantity through the form and we'll return a price with the calculated diversion figures attached — ready to paste into a report.