Totes are in the category of rigid IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container). A standard tote design includes a high-density polyethylene bottle in a solid tubular reinforced steel cage. The polyethylene bottle will be attached with a tap or valve at the bottom and a lid at the top. The reinforced steel cage is attached to a 4 ways pallet base, which can be made from wood, steel or plastic. It is use to store and handle products that are at state of liquid.

Besides containing hazardous liquid, lubricant, etc, there are other ranges of products like edible oils, edible fats, fruit juices, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, non-hazardous chemicals (adhesives, resins, etc.), etc. All these other products’ demands increase, will increase the demand for the use for IBC.

Practices
People will fill the Totes with liquid from the top lid, and dispense the amount of liquid from the bottom via the valve or tap. These functions facilitate easy usage.

It can be stacked to 3 high, which facilitates storage.

With its 4 way pallet base, it can be fork lifted easily for transport.

Considerably light when it’s empty, manual labour is able to carry it around.

Main products being store are dangerous goods (DG), lubricants and chemicals. Usually filled with the same product after depleted, so do not need to wash or clean.

Pros
Totes are easy to use, transport and recycle. (As explained above)

As it is made to be robust, therefore, it would be durable in terms for storage, also in rough handling.

Using this packaging can be cost savings as Totes can be reused and durable. Addition, it can be stacked to 3 high as to have more efficient space usage. The capacity ranges from 450 litres to 3000 litres of liquid.

Since it is made from polyethylene and steel, most parts of Totes can be recycled, which is proven to be environment friendly. As more people are more concerned about being environment friendly, this added points to be an emerging trend in logistical packaging.

Jumbo Bag is under the category of flexible IBC. It has body made of flexible material which cannot be handled by human labour when filled. It is also mainly be set to shipments of solid products that in form of powder, flake or granular form. It will be used when products does not require further packaging. Jumbo Bag has been designed to be lifted from the top by means of “lifting eyes” (A.K.A. lifting loops or straps).

Besides handling products like chemicals and constructions materials (cement, gravel, sand, etc.), it is been widely used for other products like food (sugar, salt, flour, etc.), pharmaceutical, plastics (resin, pellets, etc.), absorbent polymer, rubber, carbon black, refractories (abrasive grit, ceramics, etc.), agriculture (seeds, grain, etc.),specialty minerals and etc. The demand for the products will contribute to the increasing demand for flexible IBC.

Practices
When shipping by sea, Jumbo Bags are gang-loaded with up to 14 Bags on a spreader bar and shipped as break bulk.
Jumbo Bags are usually utilized without pallets, therefore reduce additional handling.

When Bags are used for hazardous products, the UN marking for the product must be printed on the container body.

The standard filled diameter of Jumbo Bags is 114cm to 121cm, designed to fit two across in a truck or a shipping container. They can be manufactured to meet specific requirements of the container users.

Pros
Jumbo Bag can be folded up flat and secured for shipment to the user.

The weight of a Jumbo Bag used to pack one metric ton of product weighs 3.6kg to 4.5kg. Therefore this created a very high product weight ratio, by using of light weight package to pack heavy weight products.

Cost of Jumbo Bags is competitive with other forms of packaging. Due to mainly it is being used without the pallet and it is used when there are no other needs for other packaging.

By utilizing without pallets, it helps to reduce additional handling.