IBC Pickup & Recycling
Do not let used IBC totes take up space or end up in a landfill. ABC IBC connects you with partner suppliers who collect used, empty, and end-of-life IBC totes for reuse or recycling. Availability depends on partner suppliers in your area.
Schedule IBC Pickup
Send a free, no-obligation quote request for IBC tote pickup and recycling.
How Pickup Works
ABC IBC passes your request to a partner supplier in your area, who arranges the collection. Here is how it typically works.
Request a Quote
Tell us how many totes you have, their approximate condition, what they previously held, and your location.
A Partner Supplier Follows Up
A partner supplier in your area follows up with their terms and, if it suits you, arranges a pickup date. Forklift access or ground-level loading usually helps.
Collection & Processing
The partner supplier collects the totes. Reusable totes typically go to cleaning and reconditioning. End-of-life totes go to material recycling where facilities accept them.
Is pickup free? It depends on the partner supplier, how many totes you have, their condition and your location. Larger loads of reusable totes are more likely to be collected at no charge; otherwise pickup is by quote.
How IBC Tote Recycling Works
An IBC tote is not a single material — it is an assembly of three distinct components, each with its own recycling pathway. Here is what typically happens once a partner supplier has collected a tote.
Intake & Sorting
Collected totes are sorted into two streams: those that can be reconditioned and reused, and those headed for end-of-life recycling. Totes with intact HDPE bottles, sound cages, and suitable prior contents are candidates for reconditioning. The rest go to material recycling.
Dismantling
End-of-life totes are fully disassembled. The HDPE plastic bottle is separated from the steel cage frame. The valve assembly, cap, and gaskets are removed. The pallet base — whether wood, steel, or composite — is detached. Each component is sorted into its dedicated material stream.
Material Processing
Each material is prepared for its specific recycling channel. HDPE bottles are rinsed, shredded into flakes, and washed again to remove any residual contaminants. Steel cages are cut, baled, or loaded loose for scrap processing. Pallets are either repaired for reuse or broken down into raw materials (wood chips, scrap steel, or plastic regrind).
Recycling & New Life
Processed materials go to recyclers and manufacturers. HDPE flakes can become pellets for new plastic products. Steel goes back into steelmaking as scrap. Wood can become mulch or biomass fuel, and plastic pallets can be ground for reuse.
What Happens to Each Component
The Bottle
High-density polyethylene is one of the more widely recycled plastics. Where facilities accept them, IBC bottles are shredded into flakes, washed, and sold as regrind to manufacturers. Recycled HDPE can become drainage pipe, plastic lumber, and non-food containers.
The Cage Frame
Galvanized steel cage frames are accepted by most scrap metal recyclers. Steel can be melted down and reused with other scrap to make new steel products such as rebar and sheet metal.
The Base
IBC pallets come in three varieties: wooden, steel, and composite/plastic. Each has its own recycling pathway. Wooden pallets in good condition can be repaired and reused; damaged ones can be chipped for mulch or biomass. Steel pallets go to scrap metal recycling like cage frames. Plastic pallets can often be ground and reprocessed where facilities accept them.
The Environmental Cost of Not Recycling
An IBC tote that goes to a landfill takes its plastic, steel and pallet materials with it. Making those materials in the first place took energy, petroleum, iron ore and timber.
When a tote is landfilled, those materials are lost and HDPE breaks down very slowly. Reusing a tote avoids manufacturing a new one, and when a tote can no longer be used, its HDPE bottle and steel cage can often be recycled where facilities accept them.
What Partner Suppliers Typically Accept
Partner suppliers take IBC totes in a range of conditions. What a given supplier accepts varies, so describe your totes in your request. Commonly accepted:
- Clean, empty totes that have been rinsed by the previous user. These are prime candidates for reconditioning rather than recycling.
- Dirty totes with residual product from industrial, agricultural, or food-processing use. Some partner suppliers handle cleaning and disposal of residual contents.
- Damaged totes with cracked bottles, bent cages, broken pallets, or missing valves. These go straight to material recycling.
- UV-degraded totes that have been stored outdoors and show significant yellowing or brittleness. The HDPE can often still be recycled.
- Surplus or excess inventory from businesses downsizing, closing, or changing their packaging approach.
Note: Totes that previously held hazardous materials need special handling, and not every partner supplier accepts them. Include the previous contents in your request and check current regulations with your local authorities.
Reuse First, Then Recycle
The best outcome for a used tote is another round of use. When a tote can no longer be reused, separating the bottle, cage and pallet gives each material the best chance of being recycled where facilities accept it.
Learn more on our sustainability page.
Got Totes That Need to Go?
Whether you have a few totes or hundreds, send a free quote request and a partner supplier in your area follows up about collecting them for reuse or recycling.