Industry Statistics Steel Drums; Plastic Drums; Intermediate Bulk Containers

Reconditioned and Newly Manufactured Packagings

Introduction

The Reusable Industrial Packaging Association (RIPA) conducts biennial surveys of its membership to collect quantitative information about industry activities and industrial practices. Over the years, the surveys have evolved to include greater detail about association members’ activities. Early efforts focused almost exclusively on reconditioning throughput, i.e. the total number of industrial packagings sold or scrapped on an annual basis. More recent surveys have included additional information on transportation, purchaser profiles and process issues.

Reusable Industrial Packaging Association

RIPA represents industrial packaging reconditioners, distributors and manufacturers in North American. In 2019, RIPA has 60 reconditioner / distributor members in the U.S. that operate a combined 105 reconditioning plants and distribution centers. RIPA members generate approximately 90% of the gross industry sales of reconditioned steel drums, plastic drums and composite IBCs. In addition, they generate revenue from fiber drums, scrap plastic and steel, off-sized units (e.g. 30-gallon drums), and brokered new packagings.

Definitions

The industry data presented here focus on the following products:

- 55-gallon steel drums - open (removable) head - tight (non-removable) head

- 55-gallon plastic drums - open (removable) head - tight (non-removable) head

- Composite intermediate bulk containers - 275-gallon capacity - 330-gallon capacity

NOTE: Data presented here for newly manufactured drums and IBCs are provided by the Industrial Packaging Alliance of North America (IPANA) which is comprised, in part, of the Industrial Steel Drum Institute (ISDI), the Plastic Drum Institute (PDI), and the Rigid Intermediate Bulk Container Association (RIBCA).

Following are production data from 2001 (1997 for steel drums) to 2019 for both new and reconditioned steel drums, plastic drums and IBCs. Click on the links below to find the product type in which you are interested. Other interesting data (as bar graphs) are in the back pages.

Steel Drum Data

Plastic Drum Data

IBC Data

Steel Drum Data

Reconditioned 55-gallon Steel Drum New 55-gallon Steel Drum Production in Production in United States United States 1997 – 2019 1997 – 2019

Unit: 1000 Drums Unit: 1000 Drums

Year Production Year Production

1997 32,700 1997 27,100

1999 32,800 1999 27,300

2001 31,250 2001 26,500

2003 30,900 2003 25,700

2005 32,300 2005 24,800

2007 30,200 2007 24,300

2009 29,900 2009 21,200

2011 24,087 2011 25,010

2013 25,145 2013 26,623

2015 23,754 2015 26,788

2017 23,431 2017 26,572

2019 25,068 2019 24,201

Reconditioned 55-gallon Steel Drum Production in United States 1997 – 2019

32700 32800 31250 32300 30200 35000 30900 29900 30000 2408725145 23754 25068 23431 25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0 Production (1000 Units)

1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

New 55-gallon Steel Drum Production in United States 1997 – 2019

27100 27300 26500 26788 30000 25700 24800 26623 26572 24021 24300 21200 25010 25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0 Production (1000 Units)

1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

Steel Drums New vs Reconditioned

35000 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

New Reconditioned

continued  Plastic Drum Data

Reconditioned 55-gallon Plastic Drum New 55-gallon Plastic Drum Production in Production in United States United States 2001 – 2019 2001 - 2019

Unit: 1000 Drums Unit: 1000 Drums

Year Production Year Production

2001 4,500 2001 13,830

2003 5,500 2003 14,144

2005 6,000 2005 14,465

2007 6,200 2007 15,985

2009 6,860 2009 13,170

2011 4,316 2011 11,099

2013 4,123 2013 10,978 2015 3,829 2015 10,810

2017 3,396 2017 11,560

2019 4,727 2019 11,399

Reconditioned 55-gallon Plastic Drum Production in United States 2001 - 2019

6860 6200 7000 6000 5500 6000 4727 4500 4316 5000 4123 3829 3396 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 Production (1000 Units)

2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

New 55-gallon Plastic Drum Production in United States 2001 - 2019

15985 14465 16000 13830 14144 13170 14000 11099 11560 11399 10978 10810 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 Production (1000 Units)

2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

Plastic Drums New vs Reconditioned

16000 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

New Reconditioned

continued 

IBC Data

Reconditioned Composite IBC New Composite IBC Production Production in United States* in United States* 2001 – 2019 2001 – 2019

Unit: 1000 IBCs Unit: 1000 IBCs

Year Production Year Production

2001 640 2001 730

2003 750 2003 1,000

2005 940 2005 1,600

2007 1,250 2007 1,950

2009 1,700 2009 2,100

2011 2,168 2011 2,574

2013 2,591 2013 2,819

2015 3,172 2015 2,928

2017 3,497 2017 3,088

2019 3,281 2019 3,373

*Includes 275 gallon and 330 gallon units. *Includes 275 gallon and 330 gallon units.

Reconditioned Composite IBC Production in United States 2001 - 2019

3497 3281 3500 3172 3000 2591 2500 2168 1700 2000 1250 1500 940 750 1000 640 500 0 Production (1000 Units)

2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

New Composite IBC Production in United States 2001 - 2019

3373 3088 3500 2819 2928 3000 2574 2100 2500 1950 2000 1600

1500 1000 730 1000 500 0 Production (1000 Units)

2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

IBCs New vs Reconditioned

3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

New Reconditioned

continued  U.S. Reconditoning 2001 - 2019

35000

30000

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

Steel Plastic IBC

U.S. Manufacturing 2001 - 2019

30000

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

Steel Plastic IBC