Full-stream
HDPE reclamation.
Seven percent of the totes that come into our yard can't be saved. Those tanks don't become trash — they become pellets, steel scrap, and rubber streams that keep feeding the next generation of industrial packaging. Here's exactly how.
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From chemicals aisle to pellet hopper.
The intake side of the recycling stream — totes come in still wearing their yellow hazard labels, get staged by prior-contents class, then move one at a time onto the wash line and from there into the granulator. The operator in the blue cab handles about forty units a shift, and reads every label before the tank clears the aisle.
The three output streams
Granulated in our 3-inch mill and sold to U.S. re-bottlers. Each batch ships with a chain-of-custody sheet.
Straightened when possible, scrapped when not. Cages are cut apart and sold by weight to Allegheny-area mills.
EPDM, silicone, and polypropylene are separated. Usable parts enter our accessories bin. The rest goes to a specialty elastomer reclaimer.
Why in-house granulation matters
Most recycling outfits ship used totes to a third-party shredder that loads them into a mixed-plastic stream. That's cheaper — but it means the HDPE gets blended with PET, PP, and the occasional slip of PVC, and the output pellet ends up being usable only for the lowest-grade applications (drainage pipe, pallet extrusion).
We granulate on site, clean, and keep the stream monotypic. That lets regional re-bottlers use our pellet as direct feedstock for new totes — closing the loop in a literal sense, not a marketing sense.
Got a cracked, burned, or mystery-residue tote?
Don't send it to a dumpster. Send it to us. We'll reclaim what we can and document what we can't. Even a single-unit recycling job gets a full ledger entry.
From cracked tank
to clean pellet.
The granulator isn't a single machine — it's a nine-step line that runs Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in the west bay. Each stage is logged, every stream gets weighed before it leaves the building. Here's the walkthrough.
Intake & triage
Tote arrives, gets a reclaim tag with the ledger ID. We photograph exterior damage and record the last-known prior contents.
Cage cut-off
Oxy-acetylene cut at the four corner welds. The cage drops intact; pallet separates by bolts or a cold chisel.
Residue drain
Any remaining liquid pumps into the consolidation drum. Over 120 gallons and we stop — that tank goes to TSDF, not to us.
Caustic pre-wash
3% NaOH hot loop, 140°F, 20 minutes. Breaks down organic films that would foul the granulator knives.
Citric neutralizer
4% citric acid rinse brings pH back to 6.8–7.2 before any HDPE goes to the mill. Keeps the pellet buyer happy.
Shear & granulate
Bottle shears into 8–10″ strips, feeds the 3-inch granulator at ~180 lb/hr. Output is a 6–10 mm regrind flake.
Wash tank & dewater
Flake tumbles through a detergent wash and a centrifugal dryer. Moisture < 0.1% before it goes to the silo.
Silo & batch sample
Every 1,000 lb batch gets a 50-gram sample pulled and tagged for MFI and ash testing.
Shipment
Super-sacks on pallets, 2,000 lb each, trucked to re-bottlers with a chain-of-custody and the batch lot number.
What we accept.
Full-stream HDPE reclamation only works if the stream is actually HDPE. Below is the complete list of what the granulator is allowed to eat, and what gets diverted to a partner before it ever touches our bay.
- · 275 & 330-gallon IBC totes (HDPE bottle, any cage condition)
- · HDPE drums 15–55 gallon, clean or rinsable prior
- · HDPE pallet bins and food-grade tanks under 500 gal
- · Mauser, Schütz, Greif, SnyderIndustries, Hoover inners
- · Prior contents: food, beverage, cosmetics, glycol, fertilizer, detergent, non-listed agrichem, water-based coatings
- · Anything on EPA 40 CFR 261 P-, U-, or F- lists
- · Totes that held restricted-use pesticides (FIFRA)
- · PCB-era transformer oils, regardless of date
- · Petroleum products above 1 gallon of residue
- · Unknown residue with solvent odor or dark staining
- · Asbestos slurry containers (labeled or suspected)
- Resin family
- HDPE, monotype
- Density
- 0.948 – 0.954 g/cm³
- Melt flow index (190°C, 2.16 kg)
- 0.32 – 0.48 g/10min
- Ash content
- < 0.15%
- Moisture (shipped)
- < 0.08%
- Flake size
- 6 – 10 mm
- Color
- Light grey, natural blend
- Typical reuse ratio in new totes
- 20 – 35% by mass
Sample certificates attach to each 2,000-lb super-sack. Third-party assay on request for accounts buying over 20,000 lb/quarter.
The regs that
shape this work.
Recycling IBCs is one of the more over-regulated corners of industrial handling — for good reason. The 2019 PHMSA case in which a regional broker took a substantial fine for shipping uncertified totes is the cautionary tale we tell every new hire on day one. The rules we operate under, and what they mean for you:
Pennsylvania's container transfer and recordkeeping rule. Every tote we recycle gets a prior-contents declaration on file for seven years. DEP can audit any line item by ledger ID.
Clarified that HDPE reclamation from rinsed IBCs is a legitimate recycling activity, not waste processing, provided the monotype stream stays documented. Our in-house granulation keeps us inside that fence.
The federal packaging standard. We don't ship recycled pellet under packaging rules (it's a raw material, not packaging), but every tote we retest before recycling still carries a valid 2.5-year UN31A cycle mark.
The hazardous-waste listing. Any tote whose prior contents map to a P, U, or F code leaves our intake on a licensed-TSDF manifest, not our floor. We'd rather lose the buy-back than lose our RCRA standing.
Worked example —
a cidery flood.
In March 2025 a cidery in Westmoreland County had a wall of 22 filled totes fall during a forklift accident. Twelve bottles cracked, six cages bent beyond repair, four were salvageable. All 22 came to us as a single pickup because the cidery needed the dock cleared before the next truck.
Here's what that load turned into by Friday close.
- 4 totes returned after wash & retest
- → back in service
- 6 cages straightened & re-paired
- → fabrication stock
- 12 HDPE bottles granulated
- → 4,180 lb pellet
- 22 steel cages total (6 bent, 16 good)
- → 2,240 lb scrap
- 22 pallets (12 wood, 10 composite)
- → 10 reissued, 12 scrapped
- Gaskets, valves, plumbing sundries
- → 38 lb elastomer stream
- Residual cider liquor
- → municipal POTW under permit
- Landfill tonnage
- 0 lb
Total cycle: intake Tuesday, pellet out Friday. Cidery received a bound summary document for their insurance file on the following Monday.
Recycling answers,
without the fluff.
What kinds of IBC totes can you recycle?
We recycle HDPE IBC totes, cages, pallets, valves, and related parts when the units are unsuitable for resale or reconditioning and the prior contents fit our intake rules.
Do you provide documentation for recycled totes?
Yes. Recycling jobs can include ledger entries, chain-of-custody records, and disposal documentation that helps with internal compliance and audit requests.
Can you recycle totes with unknown or hazardous residue?
Unknown solvent-like residue and regulated hazardous contents are not processed through our recycling line. Those loads are routed to licensed downstream partners instead.
What happens to the material after recycling?
The HDPE bottle is washed and granulated for pellet buyers, steel cages go to scrap streams, and usable fittings or elastomer parts are separated before final downstream handling.
Can you pick up damaged totes from my facility?
Yes. We can schedule pickups for damaged or end-of-life totes across our service area when the site, quantity, and prior contents are provided in advance.