Resources / glossary
Speak yard
59 terms you will hear from anybody who handles these containers for a living — defined the way we actually use them.
- Sheet
- 03
- Revision
- 2026-10
- Scale
- 1:1
- Drawn at
- Peoria IL
59Terms
A–YRange
0Jargon for its own sake
17 yrOf vocabulary
- Bottle
- The polyethylene inner receptacle of a composite IBC. The part that wears out; the cage and pallet usually do not.
- Bulkhead fitting
- A fitting that penetrates a tank wall with a gasket on each side. The standard way to add a port to a tote.
- Buttress thread
- The coarse, square-shouldered thread used on tote outlets and lids. S60x6 is the common outlet size.
- Cage
- The galvanised tubular steel frame around the bottle. Carries all stacking load and holds the UN marking plate.
- Camlock
- Quick-connect coupling common on transfer pumps. Adapters from S60x6 to 2 inch camlock are a standard part.
- CIP
- Clean-in-place. Washing a vessel without disassembling it, usually via a spray ball. Practical on stainless IBCs, not on composite totes.
- Composite IBC
- A plastic inner receptacle inside a rigid outer casing — the caged tote everyone pictures. UN code 31HA1 for liquids.
- Crazing
- Fine networks of surface cracks in polyethylene, usually at corners and the sump. The best single predictor of a short remaining life.
- Dedicated tote
- A container reserved for one product or chemistry and never cross-loaded. Standard practice for crop chemicals and food.
- Diversion rate
- The share of incoming material, by mass, that leaves by any route other than landfill.
- Dunnage
- Material used to brace and protect freight in transit. Corner boards on tote cages are dunnage.
- EPDM
- The standard gasket rubber for tote valves and caps. Excellent with water, caustic and most industrial chemistry; poor with oils and solvents.
- FIBC
- Flexible intermediate bulk container — a woven polypropylene bulk bag. Solids only, UN code 13H series.
- First flush
- The initial, dirtiest runoff from a roof. Diverting it is the most-skipped step in rainwater harvesting builds.
- Food grade
- A container qualified for food contact by resin, documented history, validated cleaning and a certificate. Never a property of appearance.
- Footprint
- The floor area a container occupies. Both the 275 and 330 gallon totes are 48 × 40 inches.
- Galvanised
- Zinc-coated steel. The cage finish on virtually every composite tote; surface rust on it is cosmetic for years.
- Grade
- A seller's condition classification. Unregulated industry-wide, so read the definition rather than the letter.
- Gravity discharge
- Draining a container through the bottom outlet without a pump. 25–40 gpm on water through a 2 inch butterfly.
- HDPE
- High-density polyethylene. The bottle material: tough, chemically resistant, recyclable, and poor with aromatic solvents.
- Heel
- The residual liquid left in the sump after gravity draining. Half a gallon to a gallon and a half on a 275.
- IBC
- Intermediate bulk container. Anything between a drum and a bulk tank — in practice, 120 to 550 gallons.
- Manifold
- Plumbing that links several totes to a common header so they behave as one tank. Connect low, not high.
- Manway
- A large access opening, usually on stainless IBCs, big enough to reach inside for cleaning and inspection.
- NPT
- National Pipe Thread, tapered. The American industrial standard; needs tape or sealant and is not interchangeable with buttress threads.
- One-trip
- A container filled exactly once before resale. Functionally new, fresh test date, usually about 70% of new price. Under-used option.
- Open-top
- A tote with the lid area cut away. Common on upcycled builds; voids any UN rating permanently.
- Packing group
- The hazard tier a container is rated for. X covers groups I–III, Y covers II–III, Z covers III only.
- Pallet
- The base the container sits on. Composite, full steel, plastic or wood, and the choice affects racking and washdown.
- Passivation
- Treating a surface so it resists reaction. Relevant for oxidisers like hydrogen peroxide, which need unused bottles.
- Placard
- The information panel on a tote. Ours carry grade, serial and QR; fillers add product and hazard information.
- Pooling
- Renting containers from a managed float instead of owning them. Washing and repairs included; returns required.
- PPE
- Personal protective equipment. Gloves and eye protection minimum anywhere near a used tote's outlet.
- Rebottle
- Replacing the polyethylene bottle while reusing cage, pallet and hardware. Reuses about 60% of the container by weight.
- Recondition
- The whole rebuild process: teardown, wash or rebottle, cage work, new hardware, leak test, re-mark.
- Regrind
- Granulated plastic, 8–12 mm, sold back to moulders. What happens to a bottle that cannot be reused.
- Re-test
- Periodic UN testing: leak-tightness every 2.5 years and a full re-test every 5 under US practice.
- Rouge
- Iron-oxide discolouration on stainless surfaces. Usually cosmetic and repairable; distinguish it from real pitting.
- S60x6
- The 2 inch coarse buttress outlet thread found on most composite tote valves. Fine-pitch variants exist — measure.
- Sea container
- Shipping container. A 20 foot box has 89 inches of interior height: 275s double stack, 330s do not.
- Serialisation
- Giving each container a permanent traceable ID. Ours are laser-etched internally plus a QR placard.
- Specific gravity
- Product density relative to water. Multiply water weights by it — liquid fertiliser at 1.3 adds nearly 700 lb to a full 275.
- Stack rating
- The maximum load a container may carry stacked on it. Static ratings do not apply in transit.
- Static load
- Load while stationary. Road transport imposes dynamic loads three to five times higher.
- Sump
- The lowest part of the bottle, around the outlet. First place to freeze, first place to bulge, where the heel sits.
- Tamper ring
- A single-use plastic ring showing a closure has not been opened. Expected by most commercial fillers.
- Tare
- Empty weight. 126 lb for a typical 275, 141 lb for a 330.
- Tote
- Colloquially, a caged 275 or 330 gallon composite IBC. If somebody says tote without qualifying it, that is what they mean.
- Toll processing
- Work done on your own containers, returned to you — as opposed to us buying and reselling them.
- Triple rinse
- Three documented rinses at roughly 10% of volume each, drained through the valve. A procedure, not three passes with a hose.
- Tri-clamp
- Sanitary clamp fitting used on stainless and pharma vessels. Gasket material matters for CIP.
- UN marking
- The stamped code certifying a container's design type for regulated transport. Illegible means permanently out of regulated service.
- Upcycle
- Converting a container that cannot carry product into something else useful — harvester, planter, locker, grow bed.
- UV stabiliser
- Additive that slows sunlight degradation of polyethylene. Present but not infinite; outdoor totes still craze eventually.
- Vented cap
- A lid that relieves pressure and lets air in during discharge. Mandatory for off-gassing products and the cure for caved-in bottles.
- Viton
- Fluoroelastomer gasket material for solvents, fuels, oils and high temperature. The upgrade over EPDM.
- Wash cycle
- A defined cleaning procedure. Ours are numbered 1 (triple rinse), 2 (hot caustic) and 3 (food-grade release).
- Weep
- A slow leak at a valve or fitting. Nine times out of ten it is grit on the seat or a compression-set gasket, not a damaged container.
- Yard
- Where containers live between lives. Ours is four acres on West Chanute Road in Peoria.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a tote and an IBC?
IBC means intermediate bulk container, anything from 120 to 550 gallons. In everyday use, tote means a caged 275 or 330 gallon composite IBC, so an unqualified mention of a tote almost always refers to that.
What does it mean when a tote has been rebottled?
Rebottling replaces the polyethylene bottle while reusing the cage, pallet and hardware. The glossary says this reuses about 60 percent of the container by weight, and it is the usual route when a bottle has failed.
What is crazing and why does it matter?
Crazing is a network of fine surface cracks in polyethylene, usually at corners and the sump. The glossary calls it the best single predictor of a short remaining life, and notes that outdoor totes eventually craze even with UV stabiliser.
What is a heel in an IBC tote?
The heel is the liquid left in the sump after gravity draining. The glossary puts it at half a gallon to a gallon and a half on a 275, which matters when you are emptying a tote for reuse or recycling.
How do I choose between EPDM and Viton gaskets?
EPDM is the standard tote gasket and works well with water, caustic and most industrial chemistry, but poorly with oils and solvents. Viton is the upgrade for solvents, fuels, oils and high temperature.