IBC·RecycleReuse · Recondition · Return
Livonia, MI · Est. 2009Contact Us

Chapter 04 · Grades

Six grades.
Each one is a
promise and a limit.

Grade language in the used-tote trade is unregulated, which means it is only as good as the yard using it. Here is precisely what each of our grades guarantees — and, more usefully, what it does not.

Not sure which grade you need?Tell us what goes in it

* requiredPhone & postal code: US or Canada onlyQuantity 1–10,000

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Summary

The ladder, top to bottom

A unit that sits between two grades is always listed as the lower one. That rule has cost us money and kept every customer.

GradeCodeCleaningTypical useBand
Food GradeFGOnly ever held food-safe contents; hot-water or caustic wash, inspected, sealedEdible liquids, maple syrup, brewing, drinking-water storagePremium
RebottledRBBrand-new HDPE bottle dropped into a refurbished cageAnything needing a virgin interior at reused-cage costPremium
Washed / Triple-RinsedW3Three-stage rinse, interior drained and dried, valve replacedIndustrial chemicals, soaps, coolants, fertilizerStandard
Technical / IndustrialTGSingle rinse, residue-free to the eye, labelled with last contentsNon-potable water, wash fluids, waste collectionValue
Unwashed / As-IsAINo cleaning. Sold with the last-contents disclosure onlyBallast, erosion control, scrap feedstockLowest
UN/DOT RecertifiedUNReconditioned, leak-tested and re-marked under a licensed programRegulated hazmat shipping by road, rail or seaPremium +

Grade by grade

Guarantees and exclusions

The right-hand column is the one worth reading. Any seller can list what a grade includes.

Food Grade

We guarantee

  • Every documented fill in the unit's life was an edible product
  • Food-protocol wash: hot water or steam with food-safe detergent
  • Sealed at the valve and fill port immediately after washing
  • Lit interior photograph in the file

We do not claim

  • It is not an FDA approval — the FDA does not approve second-hand containers
  • It does not certify the bottle against your specific product's compatibility
  • It does not mean the bottle is new; UV age and clarity are graded separately

Rebottled

We guarantee

  • A brand-new HDPE bottle, never filled, from a current production run
  • Cage inspected, straightened, re-footed and galvanising-touched as needed
  • New valve and gasket, leak-held 30 minutes
  • New-bottle documentation alongside the cage passport

We do not claim

  • The cage is reused — if your audit demands new steel, buy new
  • Any prior UN marking is void until the unit is re-tested and re-marked

Washed / Triple-Rinsed

We guarantee

  • Three-stage wash with chemistry chosen from the last-contents record
  • Drained, force-dried, no standing water
  • New valve and gasket as standard
  • Wash record naming chemistry, temperature and hold time

We do not claim

  • Not suitable for food or potable use regardless of how clean it looks
  • Staining is not a defect at this grade — function is

Technical / Industrial

We guarantee

  • Single rinse, residue-free to visual inspection
  • Last contents disclosed in writing
  • Valve functional; replacement available at cost

We do not claim

  • No multi-stage wash, no chemistry record beyond the rinse
  • Trace residue is possible and must be assumed

Unwashed / As-Is

We guarantee

  • Honest disclosure of last contents and visible condition
  • Nothing else — and the price reflects exactly that

We do not claim

  • No cleaning whatsoever
  • Not sold for any contact use; typically ballast, erosion control or feedstock

UN/DOT Recertified

We guarantee

  • Reconditioned, leak-tested and re-marked under a licensed reconditioner's registration
  • Marking panel photographed and the certificate supplied
  • Documentation carries the licensed partner's registration number

We do not claim

  • The rating belongs to that specific marked unit, not to the model or the lot
  • Any subsequent unauthorised repair voids it immediately

Reading somebody else's grade sheet

Five questions that expose a vague grade

Use these on us too. We will answer all five in writing.

  1. “What were the last two fills?”

    A seller with a history can answer both. A seller with a rinse can answer neither.

  2. “What chemistry, at what temperature, for how long?”

    “Pressure washed” is not a wash protocol, it is a hose.

  3. “Was it leak tested, and for how long?”

    A thirty-minute hold under pressure finds the seams a two-minute fill will not.

  4. “Can I see the interior, lit?”

    A photograph of the outside of a tote tells you about the cage, not the bottle.

  5. “If it is between grades, which way do you round?”

    The answer to this one question tells you everything about the yard.

Field tip

Your nose is a laboratory

HDPE absorbs and holds odour from aromatic products. If a bottle smells of anything at all — solvent, perfume, sourness — there is absorbed residue in the wall, and no further washing will remove it.

A properly washed technical tote smells faintly of warm plastic. A food-grade unit from us smells of nothing. Anything else is a grade-down, and on our line it usually becomes regrind.

The six-point field check →

Keep reading

Cleaning standardsProtocols behind the gradesOpen →Washed vs rebottledWord by wordOpen →Food-grade stockOur strictest gradeOpen →

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