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Same form, every page. Tell us once — we route it to whoever's closest to your tote.
The situation
A Detroit auto-detail shop runs about three IBC totes of soap and wax through the wash bay every quarter. Their supplier doesn't offer a take-back program. Empties had been piling up against the back fence — 22 of them, in cages of varying condition.
The owner had called two recyclers over the previous year. One never showed up. The other quoted $40/tank to remove them — making them pay to dispose of containers that still had market value.
What we did
- Owner sent us photos and prior-fill info on Monday
- We quoted $42 each on Tuesday — $924 total for the lot
- Pickup truck arrived Friday morning
- Our driver verified count and tank condition on the spot
- ACH transfer hit the shop's account that afternoon
"Pickup the same week. They cleared 22 totes off our pad and we got a check on the spot."
— Owner, Detroit Detailing Co.
What happened to the totes
18 went through our Grade C wash bay (they came out of soap and wax — non-hazardous, non-food). Three needed gasket replacements and went on the shelf as Grade B. One had a cracked bottle and went to the fabrication corner — it's now a raised growing bed at a community garden in Rivertown.
The math from their side
- Previous recycler quote: −$880
- Our offer: +$924
- Net swing: $1,804 in their favor
- Reclaimed yard footprint: ~70 sq ft
- Eight-month problem solved in 4 business days
Empties piling up at your facility?
We pay cash and we don't make you wait. Tell us what you've got.
What happened after we left the pad clean.
The repeat call. In February the same owner emailed us with 14 more tanks accumulated since the October pickup. We did the same playbook — quote on Tuesday, pickup on Friday, paid that afternoon. The relationship became quarterly.
The referral pattern. Within six months three nearby Detroit-area detail and wash businesses had reached out. The cluster was a real consolidation opportunity — we now route a single truck through four facilities on the same morning.
The yard space they reclaimed. That 70 sq ft of pad space behind the building got repurposed for a customer queue extension. The owner says they pick up an estimated 6-8 additional service appointments per week from the better customer flow.
Why we chose to dedicate the truck. The Monday-to-Friday turnaround is unusual for us. Most buy-back pickups slot into existing routed lanes. We made the Detroit run dedicated because the owner emphasized that the situation had been going on for eight months — they were willing to wait two more weeks if we said so, but the cost of waiting (occupied pad space, missed service appointments) was real. The trust we built by moving fast paid back in the quarterly relationship that followed.
If you only read one section.
- 014-business-day turnaround. Monday quote → Friday pickup → paid same day.
- 02$924 settlement for the 22-tank lot. Net swing of $1,804 versus the alternative recycler quote.
- 0370 sq ft of pad space reclaimed — turned into customer queue extension.
- 04Quarterly relationship established after the initial pickup.
- 05Three nearby referrals within six months. Cluster consolidation pays off.
“The other recycler was going to charge us $40 a tank to take them. IBC Illinois paid us $42 a tank to take them. That's a $1,800 swing on the same pile of tanks. We told everyone.”
— Owner, Detroit Detailing Co.