Damaged IBC Totes: Parts, Rebottling, Recycling

What it looks like

The damage is not subtle. A crack runs through the bottle, a cage bar is bent flat or snapped, the pallet base is split, or the butterfly valve leaks even when closed. A bulge in the bottle wall also counts.

A forklift tine through the side is the classic. A storm that rolled an empty tote across a yard is the other.

How a tote gets this grade

A tote is damaged when it cannot hold liquid or carry load safely. A leaking valve can be replaced, so a tote with only a bad valve may move up a grade. A cracked bottle cannot be patched for a regulated use.

The grade is the decision point: parts, rebottle or recycle.

The jobs it suits and the ones it never does

Suits

Parts: cages, valves, caps and pallets.
A new bottle in a sound cage.
HDPE and steel recycling.

Never

Holding any liquid.
Stacking.
Anything outside the recycler or parts bin.

What to check before you say yes

Which part is damaged.
Whether the cage is still sound.
Whether the tote held a hazardous product.
How many there are.

In South Florida

Hurricane season produces damaged totes. An empty tote that was not strapped down catches wind like a sail, tumbles and splits. After a storm, a yard may hold cracked bottles and sound cages.

The cage is the part with value. Steel scraps well, and a straight cage takes a new bottle.

Mistakes we see

Patching a cracked bottle and filling it.
Stacking a damaged tote.
Leaving broken totes on a lot to fill with rain and mosquitoes.
Throwing out a sound cage.

Reading the paperwork and the plate

Photograph every damaged tote from four sides and close up on the damage, along with the plate if it is still legible. A good photo set lets a parts buyer or a recycler decide in minutes whether a cage is worth saving, and it spares you a visit to the yard.

Do not try to straighten a bent cage with a jack or a torch. Heat and force change the steel, and a cage that has been bent back is no longer the cage the plate describes. A bent cage is a recycling or scrap grade unless a reconditioner inspects it and says otherwise.

Next to its neighbors

The grades on either side of this one.
Grade	Bottle	Where it usually goes
Dirty	Heel left	Washing, recycling
Damaged	Cracked or bent	Parts, rebottling, recycling
New	New	Drinking water

Questions people ask

What makes a damaged cage worth saving?

Straight bars, intact welds and a base that sits level. Surface rust can be brushed off; a bent or cracked frame cannot be trusted with a new bottle.

Can a split pallet base be replaced?

Often yes, with a base of the same pattern. If the cage and bottle are fine, the tote may move up to rinsed or reconditioned after repair and inspection.

Do you buy damaged totes?

We take the request. Send the count, the damage and the last contents, and we tell you where they go.

Can a cracked bottle be repaired?

Not for a regulated use. A new bottle can go in a sound cage.

What happens to the plastic?

HDPE is recycled. Steel goes to scrap or back into a cage.

Do mosquitoes matter?

A cracked tote holding rain is a mosquito nursery. Drain or cover it.

Should I move them before a storm?

Strap them down or move them in. An empty tote catches wind.

Need totes?

Count, size, grade and where. Say the last contents.

Ask for totes

Keep reading

Next stops

The eight grades