Grades, explained the way
we'd want them explained to us.

The five grades.

What each grade card includes

• Grade designation (one of the five above).
• Date of last wash / requalification.
• Original-contents class (where known).
• Lot number for traceability.
• For UN-requalified grades: stamping reference and a link to the lot documentation.

How to pick a grade for your job

Most general industrial buyers should default to Wash or Reconditioned. Pick Wash when contents are non-regulated and compatibility is well understood; pick Reconditioned when you need hazmat eligibility or full UN paperwork. Rebottle is the right call when you want the lowest-risk interior at a substantially lower price than new. Bottle Tight is reserved for low-risk, non-regulated applications (e.g., rainwater).

Grade acceptance criteria — what each inspector checks for

The grade card on every outgoing tank is signed by an inspector who has walked through a specific checklist. Here is what each grade requires.

Bottle Tight criteria

• Bottle has been visually inspected for cracks, dimples, or stress lines — none found.
• Cage inspected — straight, no significant rust on welds, no missing feet or supports.
• Valve seat inspected — no visible damage or distortion.
• Label/sticker removal completed.
• Air-pressure leak test performed at 3 PSI for 5 minutes — no measurable pressure loss.
• Grade card affixed with date and lot.

Wash criteria

• All Bottle Tight criteria, plus:
• Caustic interior wash completed per the recipe for the prior-contents class.
• Neutralization rinse completed; rinse-water pH verified within 6–8 range.
• Exterior pressure wash of cage, pallet, and valve body.
• New gasket installed on valve.
• Prior-contents class documented on grade card.

Rebottle criteria

• Original cage and pallet inspected to Wash standards.
• Original bottle removed and routed to grind line.
• New blow-molded HDPE bottle inserted into refurbished cage.
• New gasket, new cam-lock cap on bottom valve.
• UN markings on cage verified or refreshed if illegible.
• Pressure and leak test per the cage's rated packing group.
• Grade card noting Rebottle status and date.

Reconditioned (UN-requalified) criteria

• All Wash criteria, plus:
• Pressure test at the rated PSI for the cage's packing group, with documented dwell and deviation.
• Leak test on valve seat under pressure.
• UN requalification stamp date updated on cage.
• Full lot documentation produced: prior contents, wash recipe, pressure-test data, valve service notes, inspector ID.
• Lot record archived for the regulatory retention period (5 years).

Food Grade criteria

• All Wash criteria, plus:
• Prior-contents documentation confirms food-grade class.
• Food-grade gasket (silicone or FDA-compliant EPDM) installed.
• Post-wash swab verification (ATP or specific-contaminant test as applicable).
• Routed through a segregated wash line that has not handled non-food-grade chemistry.
• Food Grade designation on grade card; resin certification available on request.

Grade downgrade rules

A tank intended for one grade that does not pass that grade's criteria gets downgraded automatically rather than re-tested up. The downgrade path:

• Reconditioned or Food Grade failure → Wash, if it meets Wash criteria.
• Wash failure → Bottle Tight, if it meets Bottle Tight criteria.
• Bottle Tight failure → end-of-life recovery line.

We do not upgrade tanks after the fact. If a Wash-grade tank arrives at your dock and you decide you actually need Reconditioned, the tank needs to go back through the full requalification cycle.

How to read the grade card

Every grade card on every outgoing tank includes seven pieces of information:

• Grade designation (one of the five categories above).
• Date of last wash or requalification.
• Lot number (for traceability to the full lot record).
• Prior contents class (if applicable to the grade).
• Tank serial or unique ID.
• Inspector ID (the person who approved the grade).
• For UN-requalified grades: the requalification certificate reference number.

Frequently asked questions about the grading system

Why are there five grades and not three? Because the differences between Rebottle (new interior), Reconditioned (washed and requalified original), and Wash (washed but not formally requalified) matter to buyers in different ways. Collapsing them loses information.

What is the cheapest grade? Bottle Tight. Suitable only for non-regulated, non-critical applications.

What is the most expensive grade? Food Grade, typically. Closely followed by Reconditioned for hazmat duty.

Do other reconditioners use the same grade names? No — there is no industry-standard grading nomenclature. Some operators use similar categories with different names; some are deliberately vague. The disciplined approach is to look past the names and ask for the acceptance criteria.

Can a tank carry more than one grade designation? No. A tank is graded to the highest tier it satisfies; the grade card reflects that single designation.

What happens if my customer asks for a grade I do not see listed? Ask us. We may have a tank that fits, we may be able to route through a specific reconditioning cycle that satisfies the spec, or we may need to recommend a different format.

Why we publish the grading criteria.

Most reconditioners do not publish detailed grading criteria. Some genuinely cannot — their inspections are subjective and not reproducible. Some can but do not, because opacity protects margin (a customer who does not know what a grade actually means cannot push back on pricing).

We publish ours because the alternative is the kind of opacity that gives the entire industry a credibility problem. If buyers cannot trust the grade card on the tank, they default to specifying new — and the carbon math of bulk packaging gets worse. Transparent grading is sustainability infrastructure.