Knowledge · 05
Everything we know, written down.
Ask us something not covered here
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Start here
The main six.
If you read one thing, read the buying guide. If you read two, add grades explained — between them they cover ninety percent of the questions we get asked.
Going deeper
Five pages for when you already know the basics.
These don't appear in the main menu. They exist because somebody asked a genuinely hard question and the answer turned out to be worth writing down properly.
Two free tools
Both run in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Signature tool
UN Marking Decoder
Paste the stamp off the side of any tote and read every field back in plain English — design code, packing group, manufacture date, authorising state, stacking load and maximum gross mass.
Decode a marking
Free tool
Reuse Impact Calculator
Avoided CO₂e, virgin resin, steel, landfill volume, primary energy and process water for any quantity, with the factors published and every figure rounded down.
Run the numbers
Which guide should I read first?
The IBC Tote Buying Guide. It is ten minutes and six decisions — capacity, grade, certification, fittings, pallet base and where to buy — and it is written for someone who has never bought one of these before.
How do I work out what a UN marking on my tote means?
Paste the stamp into the UN marking decoder. It reads back every field in plain English: design code, packing group, manufacture date, authorising state, stacking test load and maximum gross mass.
Can I find out what was in a second-hand tote?
Sometimes, and the reading-a-tote's-history guide shows you how far you can get from labels, residue, the plate and the smell. What it cannot do is replace a written prior-contents declaration from the seller.
Is there a way to estimate the environmental benefit of reuse?
The reuse impact calculator gives avoided CO₂e, virgin resin, steel, landfill volume, primary energy and process water for any quantity, with every factor published and every figure rounded down.
What if my question is not answered anywhere here?
Ask it. We answer questions from people with no intention of buying anything, and roughly half the pages in this library exist because somebody asked something we could not point at an answer for.
Question we haven't answered?
Ask it. We answer questions from people with no intention of buying anything — that's how you find out who actually knows the trade.
