When an IBC bottle fails, from a puncture, deformation or a failed leak test, the galvanized steel cage around it is often still sound.
What recovery typically looks like
The bottle is removed from the cage. HDPE bottles that cannot be reused are commonly ground for plastic recycling where a recycler accepts them.
A sound cage can be fitted with a new bottle. This is usually called rebottling, and the result is sold as a rebottled tote. It is the best outcome for the cage, because the cage keeps working as a cage.
A cage too damaged to reuse can go to a scrap metal recycler.
Why reuse beats recycling
Recycling a cage means melting and remaking the steel. Reusing it skips that step entirely. Reusing a cage avoids manufacturing a new one.
For buyers and sellers
If you are buying, a rebottled tote gives you a new bottle in a reused cage. If you have damaged totes, a recycling pickup request lets partner suppliers sort out what can be reused and what goes to recycling.