Drum and IBC Reconditioning in the UAE

What reconditioning involves, step by step

Drum reconditioning in the UAE is often quoted as a single word. In practice it is a sequence, and every container that enters the yard goes through the same one. What changes between steel, HDPE and IBC is the surface preparation and the parts that get replaced.

• Wash — inside and out, then dry.
• Surface preparation — steel is shot blasted or washed depending on what the drum previously carried; HDPE is hot washed.
• Inspection — dents, corrosion, thread damage, stress cracking and residual odour.
• Leak test — before a container is passed.
• Parts replacement — bungs, gaskets, lids, clamp rings and caps that will not seal are replaced.
• Repaint — steel drums where required.
• Palletise and dispatch.

Two steps decide the outcome. The first is the previous contents, which set the treatment: a lubricant residue and a paint or resin residue are not the same job on the same drum. The second is the inspection, which is where a container is either passed or rejected. Dents, corrosion, thread damage, stress cracking and odour that survives washing are the points a container is failed on. Where a container does not pass, we can look at buying it from you as an empty rather than returning it — buying customers' empty drums and IBC tanks is part of what we do.

Steel Drum Reconditioning

Steel barrel reconditioning covers both head types. Open head drums have a removable lid and clamp ring, so the lid, the ring and the gasket are all inspected as sealing parts and replaced when they no longer close properly. Tight head drums have a fixed top with bungs, so the threads and the bung gaskets carry the seal, and thread damage is one of the inspection points that decides whether a tight head drum goes back into service.

Previous contents drive the surface preparation. Steel drums that have held solvents, lubricants, paints and coatings, fuels or hazardous materials are washed, dried, and then either shot blasted or washed depending on the residue involved. Shot blasting takes the surface back for repainting and removes corrosion that a wash will not shift; where the previous contents do not call for it, the drum is washed rather than blasted. After the leak test, steel drums are repainted where required, then palletised for dispatch.

If you would rather buy reconditioned stock than recondition your own, reconditioned steel drums are covered on our used drums page.

Plastic Drum Reconditioning (HDPE)

We recondition HDPE plastic drums from 30 to 220 litres, in both open top and L-ring tight head configurations. HDPE is hot washed rather than blasted — there is no coating to strip and no corrosion to remove, so the job is about the wall, the threads and the odour.

Plastic drums that have carried acids, alkalis, detergents, food concentrates or water are washed inside and out, dried, and then inspected for three things a steel drum does not suffer from in the same way. Stress cracking is the first: fine cracking in the wall or around the neck, which can fail under load even though the drum looks sound. Residual odour is the second, and it is one reason a drum that has held strong detergents or concentrates may be rejected after washing rather than before. Thread damage at the bung or the L-ring closure is the third. Caps, gaskets and lids that will not seal are replaced, and the drum is leak tested before it is passed.

Refurbished plastic drums that clear all of that are palletised for dispatch; the ones that do not are set aside, and we can quote to buy them from you as empties instead.

IBC Tank Reconditioning and Rebottling

A 1000-litre IBC tank is three parts — an HDPE bottle, a galvanised steel cage and a pallet base, with a discharge valve at the bottom — and reconditioning treats them separately. The bottle is hot washed and dried, inspected for stress cracking and residual odour, and leak tested. The cage and pallet base are inspected for damage and corrosion. The discharge valve and its gaskets are checked as sealing parts, and gaskets and caps that will not seal are replaced.

Where the bottle itself cannot be brought back — cracking, damage, or a previous content such as a resin or a liquid waste that will not wash out — the answer is rebottling: a new HDPE bottle is fitted into the existing cage and pallet base. Rebottling keeps the cage and pallet you already own in service instead of replacing the complete unit.

IBC tanks that have carried bulk chemicals, paints, resins, water or liquid waste are all candidates, subject to inspection. New and reconditioned units are covered on the IBC tanks page.

Collection, Washing and Return

Not every container needs full reconditioning. If your drums and IBC tanks cycle back empty and stay in your own pool, we run industrial drum washing on a collect-wash-return basis: we collect from your site, wash and dry the containers, and return the same units to you. You keep your own stock; the washing is handled here.

Collection covers steel drums, plastic drums and IBC tanks alike, so a mixed pool of empties can go through one enquiry rather than three. Collection and delivery run across all seven emirates. If you want the empties gone instead of returned, we also buy drums and IBC tanks outright — see used drums for how that side works.

To ask about a collection, send a photograph, a rough count and the previous contents to +971 52 256 0462 on WhatsApp. Previous contents are the one detail worth getting right first time, because they decide whether a container is washed, shot blasted, hot washed or rejected.

Turnaround and coverage

The yard is at Yard No. 27, Al Sajaa Industrial Area, opposite Al Asal Marble Yard, Sharjah. Stated opening hours are Monday to Sunday, 08:00 to 20:00, and collection and delivery run across Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman, Abu Dhabi, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah.

Turnaround depends on the container type, the previous contents and the quantity — a batch of washed HDPE drums and a batch of shot blasted and repainted steel drums are not the same job. Rather than publish one figure that would be wrong for most jobs, we confirm a turnaround against your actual batch when you enquire.

What we need in order to quote: container type and head type, size, quantity, previous contents, and whether you want them reconditioned and returned, washed and returned, or bought from you. A photograph of the empties often answers more of those questions than a written specification.

Call +971 52 256 0462 or +971 6 579 0593, WhatsApp +971 52 256 0462, or email maslamtanksbarrels@gmail.com. For the full range of new and reconditioned stock, start from the homepage.

Frequently Asked Questions