304 · 316L · pressure rated

Stainless bins, for the liquids that eat polyethylene.

Solvents, essences, acids, anything that gets steam-cleaned twice a week, and anything that must not pick up the flavour of the last product. When a poly tote is the wrong tool, this is the right one — and it will still be right in twenty-five years.

Short answer

Stainless steel IBCs are reusable 304 or 316L bulk bins, typically 265–550 gallons, rated for low pressure and repeated clean-in-place cycles. Expect $1,400–$3,200 for reconditioned units with a 20–30 year service life. We also refurbish and re-certify bins you already own.

Alloys: 304 · 316L
Capacity: 265 – 550 gal
Service life: 20–30 years
Refurbishment: In-house

Work order · 90-second form

Quote stainless

Tell us the liquid, the temperature and whether it sees CIP or steam — alloy selection follows from that.

The case for metal

Polyethylene is a remarkable material and a terrible one, depending on the liquid. It is semi-permeable, it absorbs aromatics, it swells in some solvents, it stress-cracks under surfactants and it cannot be steamed. Stainless does none of those things.

A stainless IBC is a welded pressure vessel on a forkliftable frame, with a manway, a vent, a sanitary or industrial outlet and — crucially — an interior that can be cleaned to a validated standard and proven clean. For a brewery moving between a fruited sour and a lager, or a flavour house running citrus oils, that provability is the whole product.

Where stainless earns its price

Repeated clean-in-place or steam sanitisation, hundreds of cycles.
Aromatic and flavour-critical liquids that would ghost into a poly wall.
Solvents, ketones, aromatics and chlorinated chemistries.
Hot fills and any duty above roughly 140 °F sustained.
Low-pressure transfer, nitrogen blanketing and partial vacuum.
Fleet duty measured in decades rather than fills.

Stainless IBC — typical configurations
Capacity	Alloy	Footprint	Tare	Typical duty
265 gal / 1,000 L	304	48" × 40" × 51"	310 lb	Food, beverage, cosmetic
330 gal / 1,250 L	304	48" × 40" × 59"	355 lb	General process
350 gal / 1,325 L	316L	48" × 40" × 61"	395 lb	Acids, brines, pharma
450 gal / 1,700 L	316L	48" × 46" × 68"	460 lb	Solvent, flavour, essence
550 gal / 2,080 L	316L	52" × 46" × 74"	540 lb	Bulk transfer, blending

304 vs 316L at a glance
Property	304	316L
Chloride resistance	Moderate	High
Acid resistance	Fair	Good
Molybdenum	None	2–3%
Typical premium	baseline	+30–45%
Weldability after service	Good	Excellent (low carbon)
Best for	Food, beverage, mild process	Brine, acid, pharma, marine

Also true

Stainless is the most circular container we sell.

It has the highest embodied carbon per unit of anything in the yard and the lowest embodied carbon per fill of anything in the yard, because the denominator is enormous. A 316L bin that runs 40 fills a year for 25 years amortises its manufacture across a thousand uses — against three to eight for a poly bottle.

And at the end, stainless is infinitely recyclable into new stainless with no downgrade, at roughly a quarter of the energy of primary production. There is no such thing as a landfilled stainless bin; the scrap value alone guarantees it.

The whole ecological argument

Stainless questions

Alloy, pressure, price.

Stainless IBCs — FAQ

304 or 316L — which do I need?

304 handles most food, beverage, cosmetic and mild industrial duty and costs meaningfully less. 316L adds molybdenum, which buys resistance to chlorides and many acids — brines, some cleaning chemistries, seawater-adjacent duty and a lot of pharmaceutical work. If your liquid contains chloride ions at any concentration worth mentioning, specify 316L and stop arguing about the price.

Are stainless IBCs worth the money?

Over a fleet lifetime, usually yes. A stainless bin costs ten to twenty times a poly tote up front and lasts twenty to thirty years through hundreds of CIP cycles, holds pressure and vacuum, tolerates steam and does not absorb odours or flavours. Per fill, over a real service life, it is frequently the cheapest container on the site. For occasional or single-product duty it is overkill.

Can you refurbish stainless bins we already own?

Yes — passivation, gasket and valve replacement, dent removal, pressure re-test, weld repair by a certified welder, and re-certification paperwork. That work is quoted per unit after inspection. It is very often a third the cost of replacement.

Do stainless IBCs hold pressure?

Most are rated for low positive pressure and partial vacuum — typically 15 to 45 psi working depending on the build, with the rating stamped on the data plate. Never assume; the number on the plate governs. We will not sell a bin into pressure service without a legible plate and a current test.

Brewing & distilling

Where stainless is not optional, and where a poly tote is perfectly fine.

Open

Washing & CIP

What our wash line can and cannot validate, per residue type.

Open

Custom fabrication

Manways, sanitary fittings, jackets, stands and dosing plumbing.

Open

Interior of a warehouse with IBC totes racked on orange pallet racking and stacked two high on the floor

The yard

Indoor storage, where metal usually lives

By the numbers

The figures behind this page.

20–30 yr: service life; Nobody wears these out; they get displaced
0.03 kg: CO₂e per fill; The lowest of anything we sell
5%: fail pressure testing; Which is exactly why we test every one
⅓: of new price, reconditioned; When a plant retools, a fleet appears

Reference

The detail, in full.

Embodied carbon per fill — why stainless wins on the long view
Container	Embodied CO₂e	Realistic fills	Per fill
Composite IBC, new	88 kg	6	14.7 kg
Composite IBC, rebottled	37.5 kg	6	6.3 kg
Composite IBC, reused	≈2 kg	5	0.4 kg
316L stainless, new	310 kg	1,000	0.31 kg
316L stainless, reconditioned	≈18 kg	600	0.03 kg

304 versus 316L
Property	304	316L
Chloride resistance	Moderate	High
Acid resistance	Fair	Good
Molybdenum	None	2–3%
Typical premium	baseline	+30–45%
Weldability after service	Good	Excellent (low carbon)
Best for	Food, beverage, mild process	Brine, acid, pharma, flavour, marine

Straight answers

Where metal earns its price, and where it does not.

Specify stainless

Repeated clean-in-place or steam sanitisation, hundreds of cycles.
Aromatic and flavour-critical liquids that would ghost into a poly wall.
Solvents, ketones, aromatics and chlorinated chemistries.
Hot fills and anything above roughly 140 °F sustained.
Low-pressure transfer, nitrogen blanketing and partial vacuum.
Fleet duty measured in decades rather than fills.

A poly tote does this for a tenth of the price

Brewery glycol reservoirs — ambient, no product contact.
Caustic and peracetic acid storage.
Treated water held between batches.
Agricultural nutrient and fertigation duty.
Site water, dust suppression and stormwater capture.

Received wisdom, examined

Four things people believe that are wrong.

“Stainless is the environmentally worse choice.”

Per unit it carries the highest embodied carbon we sell. Per fill it carries the lowest, because the denominator is a thousand rather than six. And it recycles infinitely with no downgrade.

“Used stainless is worn out.”

Stainless bins rarely die; they get displaced by a plant reconfiguration. We buy those fleets, passivate, re-gasket and pressure-test them — and roughly 95% pass.

“Passivation is just cleaning.”

It is metallurgical maintenance: a controlled acid treatment that removes free iron and lets the passive chromium oxide layer re-form. Skipping it is why some reconditioned stainless develops rust spots that surprise everybody.

“You can assume the pressure rating.”

The number on the data plate governs, and two of forty-one bins in our last fleet failed test — one at a distorted manway flange and one at a base-dish weld that was invisible dry. Never buy stainless into pressure service without a current test and a legible plate.

Asked and answered.

Further questions

Can you refurbish bins we already own?

Yes — passivation, gasket and valve replacement, dent removal, weld repair by a certified welder, pressure re-test and re-certification paperwork. Quoted per unit after inspection, and very often a third the cost of replacement.

304 or 316L?

If your liquid contains chloride ions at any concentration worth mentioning, specify 316L and stop arguing about the price. 304 handles most food, beverage, cosmetic and mild industrial duty at meaningfully less cost.

How do I know what is available?

Ask and we will tell you what is on the ground. Stainless is lumpy and event-driven rather than a steady stock line — when a flavour house or dairy retools, a fleet appears, and that is the month to buy.

Go deeper

Twelve reference sheets, because you should not have to ask us for a number.

Specifications, grading definitions, prices, thread standards, flow rates, weights, gasket selection, wash chemistry, freight limits, circular-route arithmetic, failure modes and conversions. Open what you need; none of it is gated and none of it changes depending on who is asking.

Container specs16 rows

Every dimension for the two sizes that make up 93% of the market.

The two sizes that are 93% of the market
Attribute	275 gallon	330 gallon
Capacity	275 gal / 1,041 L	330 gal / 1,249 L
Footprint	48" × 40"	48" × 40"
Height	46"	53"
Tare weight	125–135 lb	140–155 lb
Gross, water	≈2,425 lb	≈2,900 lb
Max gross mass	2,800 lb	3,300 lb
Bottle mass	38–45 lb HDPE	45–52 lb HDPE
Cage + base mass	≈55 lb steel	≈62 lb steel
Stack, full	2 high	2 high
Stack, empty	4 high	4 high
Two-high stack height	92"	106"
Per 53′ van, volume	48	40
Per 53′ van, weight-limited	17 full	14 full
Fill opening	6" vented or solid	6" vented or solid
Discharge	2" butterfly, S60x6	2" butterfly, S60x6
Forklift entry	4-way	4-way

Grading standard10 rows

Our written definitions — the same ones printed on every quote.

Our written grading standard, in one table
	Grade A	Grade B	Grade C	Food grade
Wash	Documented	Documented	Rinse only	Documented + sanitise
Bottle	Clear–translucent	Light haze permitted	Heavy staining	Clear, odour-free
Odour	None	Faint, product-typical	May be present	None
Prior contents	Documented, benign	Documented	May be absent	Edible only, documented
Cage	Square, no node rust	Sound, cosmetic dings	Cosmetic damage OK	Sound
Gasket	New	New	As-is	New, FDA EPDM
Leak test	Passed, recorded	Passed, recorded	Not tested	Passed, recorded
Food contact	Only if food prior	No	Never	Yes
Price band, 275 gal	$165–$225	$110–$165	$60–$95	$225–$300
Share of our sales	18%	58%	17%	7%

2026 price bands8 rows

Published rather than extracted through a contact form.

2026 Mid-Atlantic price bands, 275 gallon
Type	Single unit	Pallet (4+)	Truckload (48)	Lead time
Grade C as-is	$60–$95	$56–$88	$52–$78	1–2 days
Grade B washed	$110–$165	$102–$152	$95–$140	1–3 days
Grade A rinsed	$165–$225	$153–$208	$140–$190	1–3 days
Food grade	$225–$300	$210–$278	$195–$260	2–5 days
Rebottled	$250–$340	$236–$316	$220–$295	3–7 days
New composite	$420–$560	$400–$530	$380–$500	5–15 days
Cage only	$35–$65	$32–$60	$30–$55	1–3 days
We pay you for empties	$15–$85	$20–$85	$28–$85	Collection ≤2 weeks

Threads & flow9 rows

Measured on our own line: full tote of water, vented lid, valve open.

Threads, adapters and gravity flow
Fitting	Specification	Initial flow	Time to empty 275 gal	Typical use
3" butterfly	3" flange, PP body	128 gpm	3.5 min	Batch dumping, viscous
2" butterfly	S60x6 outlet, EPDM seat	70 gpm	6.5 min	Standard discharge
2" camlock	S60x6 → 2″ male cam	62 gpm	7.2 min	Pump and transfer hose
2" NPT	S60x6 → 2″ male NPT	58 gpm	7.9 min	Rigid dosing plumbing
1" camlock	S60x6 → 1″ male cam	22 gpm	19.6 min	Drum filling, controlled
3/4" GHT	S60x6 → garden hose	9 gpm	45.8 min	Irrigation, wash-down
1/2" spigot	S60x6 → spigot	4 gpm	105 min	Hand filling, troughs
S60x6	60 mm OD, 6 mm pitch buttress	—	—	Modern standard outlet
S100x8	100 mm OD, 8 mm pitch	—	—	Legacy / EU — use a bushing

Weights by product10 rows

gallons × 8.34 × specific gravity + tare. The number people skip.

Gross weight by product — the calculation people skip
Product	SG	275 gal gross	330 gal gross	Stack?
Ethanol	0.79	1,940 lb	2,310 lb	Yes
Diesel / fuel oil	0.85	2,080 lb	2,480 lb	Yes — steel bin only
Vegetable oil	0.92	2,240 lb	2,670 lb	Yes
Water	1.00	2,425 lb	2,900 lb	Yes
Latex emulsion	1.05	2,540 lb	3,040 lb	With care
Brine 23%	1.20	2,880 lb	3,450 lb	No
Liquid fertiliser 28-0-0	1.28	3,065 lb	3,670 lb	No
Corn syrup 42 DE	1.33	3,180 lb	3,810 lb	No — partial fill
Sulphuric acid 50%	1.40	3,340 lb	4,000 lb	Partial fill
Sodium hydroxide 50%	1.52	3,615 lb	4,335 lb	Partial fill

Gasket selection10 rows

The cheapest decision in the specification, and the one most often wrong.

Gasket and wetted-part selection
Product family	Gasket	Valve body	Container	Avoid
Water, brine, glycol	EPDM	Polypropylene	Poly IBC	—
Dilute acids	EPDM	Polypropylene	Poly IBC	Brass, carbon steel
Caustics	EPDM	Polypropylene	Poly IBC	Aluminium
Alcohols under 20% ABV	EPDM	Polypropylene	Poly IBC	—
Alcohols over 20% ABV	Viton	Stainless	Stainless bin	Poly bottles
Vegetable and mineral oils	Viton	Polypropylene	Poly IBC	EPDM gaskets
Fuels, diesel, kerosene	Viton	PP or stainless	Steel bin	Poly bottles
Aromatic solvents	Viton	Stainless	316L bin	All poly parts
Food ingredients	EPDM (FDA)	PP (FDA)	Food-grade poly	Non-FDA elastomers
Flavour, essence, botanical	Viton	Stainless	316L bin	Poly bottles

Wash cycles8 rows

The cycle follows the residue. A default cycle is how you get a clean-looking tote that smells.

Wash cycle by residue class
Residue	Cycle	Temp	Chemistry	Water	Cost	Outcome
Water-soluble benign	Cold triple rinse	Ambient	None	22 gal	$18–$28	Grade A/B
Sugars, syrups	Hot caustic + sanitise	148–156 °F	1.5% NaOH	45 gal	$35–$55	Food grade if prior allows
Proteins	Hot caustic + sanitise	150–158 °F	2% NaOH	48 gal	$40–$58	Food grade if prior allows
Oils, fats	Degrease + hot rinse	135–150 °F	Alkaline surfactant	52 gal	$45–$70	Grade A/B
Surfactants	Extended rinse + defoam	Ambient–120 °F	Defoamer	40 gal	$30–$48	Grade B only
Latex, emulsions	Mechanical + strip	125–140 °F	Alkaline	50 gal	$50–$75	Grade B/C
Acids, caustics	Neutralise + rinse	Ambient	Counter-agent	35 gal	$32–$50	Grade B
Unknown	Triple rinse, downgrade	Ambient	None	22 gal	$20–$30	Grade C only

Freight limits8 rows

Volume capacity and weight capacity are different numbers, and weight wins.

What fits on what — volume and weight limits
Vehicle	Full, 2 high	Weight-limited full	Empty, 4 high	Liftgate
53′ dry van	48	17	96	No
48′ flatbed	40	17	80	No
26′ box truck	24	8	48	Yes
16′ box truck	12	5	24	Yes
Sprinter van	4	2	8	Yes
20′ sea container	20	17	40	No
40′ sea container	42	17	84	No
Drop trailer, 53′	48	17	96	No

Circular routes7 rows

Ranked by burden avoided. Landfill is not on the list.

The seven circular routes, ranked by burden avoided
#	Route	CO₂e avoided	Water avoided	% of new-unit burden	Share of intake
1	Reuse as-is after rinse	88 kg	190 gal	100%	60.9%
2	Wash and return to service	83 kg	163 gal	94%	22.3%
3	Rebottle	55 kg	118 gal	62%	6.0%
4	Salvage cage for another unit	36 kg	76 gal	41%	3.0%
5	Upcycle into a built product	31 kg	66 gal	35%	0.9%
6	Granulate to HDPE regrind	30 kg	62 gal	34%	6.9%
7	Landfill	0 kg	0 gal	0%	0%

Failure modes8 rows

What actually retires a container and where each one goes afterwards.

What actually retires a container, and whether it is fixable
Failure	Where it starts	Share of retirements	Fixable?	Route
Bottle stress cracking	Base radius	41%	No	Granulate bottle, keep cage
Freeze split	Mid-height, at the old liquid line	16%	No	Granulate bottle, keep cage
Contamination beyond wash	Absorbed into the wall	14%	No	Granulate bottle, keep cage
Bottle deformation	Whole wall, from overfill or heat	11%	No	Rebottle
Cage node corrosion	Welded intersections, corner columns	10%	Sometimes	Mill the steel
Missing prior-contents record	Paperwork, not the container	8%	No	Grade C only
Base rail damage	Fork pockets	—	Yes, on steel	Repair or replace base
Gasket failure	Outlet and lid seals	—	Always	Replace, $4

Delivery corridors7 rows

If you sit on a route we already run, small loads become viable.

Scheduled corridors from 800 River Rd
Corridor	Key stops	Frequency	Minimum load	Buy-back
I-76 West	Conshohocken, King of Prussia, Reading, Harrisburg	2× weekly	4 units	Yes
I-95 South	Philadelphia, Chester, Wilmington, Baltimore	2× weekly	4 units	Yes
I-95 North	Trenton, New Brunswick, Newark, Elizabeth	Weekly	6 units	Yes
NE Extension	Lansdale, Quakertown, Allentown, Bethlehem	Weekly	6 units	Yes
US-30 West	West Chester, Downingtown, Lancaster, York	Weekly	6 units	Yes
US-202 North	Doylestown, New Hope, Flemington	Weekly	4 units	Yes
Delmarva	Dover, Salisbury, Easton	Fortnightly	10 units	By arrangement

Conversions12 rows

The arithmetic that comes up daily.

Conversions used every day in this yard
From	To	Multiply by	Worked example
US gallons	Litres	3.785	275 gal = 1,041 L
Litres	US gallons	0.2642	1,000 L = 264 gal
US gallons of water	Pounds	8.34	275 gal = 2,294 lb
Pounds	Kilograms	0.4536	2,425 lb = 1,100 kg
Inches	Millimetres	25.4	48" = 1,219 mm
Cubic feet	US gallons	7.481	51 ft³ = 381 gal
Cubic yards	Cubic feet	27	1.4 yd³ = 37.8 ft³
psi	Feet of head (water)	2.31	1.7 psi = 3.9 ft
Feet of head	psi	0.433	24 in stand = 0.87 psi
gpm	Litres per minute	3.785	70 gpm = 265 L/min
kg CO₂e	Miles not driven	2.5	88 kg = 220 miles
kg CO₂e	Mature trees, one year	0.0476	88 kg = 4.2 trees

Vocabulary, in twelve lines

IBC: Intermediate bulk container — anything between a drum and a tanker, in practice 110–550 gallons on a forkliftable base.
Composite IBC: An HDPE bottle inside a welded steel cage on a pallet base. The 275 and 330 gallon workhorses.
Tare: Empty weight of the container: 125–135 lb for a 275, 140–155 lb for a 330.
Gross mass: Container plus contents. Most 275s are rated to 2,800 lb; exceed it and the bottle bulges rather than bursts.
Node: A welded intersection in the cage where load actually transfers. The correct place to inspect.
S60x6: The standard outlet thread: 60 mm OD, 6 mm pitch buttress. Hand tight only.
Prior contents: What the container last held, logged against the original label. The single most consequential fact about any used tote.
Rebottle: A new HDPE bottle fitted into an inspected existing cage — virgin interior, 38% less embodied carbon than new.
Food grade: FDA-compliant resin plus an edible-only prior history plus a documented wash. All three, together.
UN 31HA1: Marking for a composite IBC approved for liquids. Belongs to the assembly and carries a service life.
Regrind: Granulated recycled HDPE. Post-industrial IBC regrind goes to pipe, conduit, pallets — never food contact.
Avoided burden: Environmental cost that did not occur because a container was reused instead of manufactured. Not an offset.

All 58 terms

The yard, in numbers

18,412: containers returned to service, rolling 12 months
91.9%: of intake leaves as a container, not as feedstock
1.62M kg: CO₂e avoided against a new-container baseline
543,000 lb: HDPE granulated into clean regrind in 2025
318,000 lb: steel baled to a regional mill in 2025
0 yd³: container material landfilled — six consecutive years
2,600: containers on the ground at the January peak
11%: of offered loads refused, and referred on
22: people at the Norristown yard, four of them drivers
6: states served by our own trucks

Where and when

IBC Totes PA LLC
800 River Rd
Norristown, PA 19406
hello@ibctotespa.com
quotes@ibctotespa.com
No telephone line — written quotes only.

Opening hours
Mon	7:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Tue	7:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Wed	7:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Thu	7:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Fri	7:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Sat	8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Sun	Closed

Next step

Every tote we keep alive is one that never gets made.

Get a written quote Sell us your empties

Stainless bins, for the liquids that eat polyethylene.

The case for metal

Where stainless earns its price

Stainless is the most circular container we sell.

Alloy, pressure, price.

Stainless IBCs — FAQ

Brewing & distilling

Washing & CIP

Custom fabrication

The figures behind this page.

The detail, in full.

Where metal earns its price, and where it does not.

Four things people believe that are wrong.

Asked and answered.

Further questions

Related reading.

A 41-bin reconditioning job

Where stainless is not optional

Sanitary conversions

Twelve reference sheets, because you should not have to ask us for a number.

Every tote we keep alive is one that never gets made.