Manually cleaning IBCs is a common practice in many businesses, but there are some significant issues with cleaning IBCs in this way.

LABOUR INTENSIVE

Firstly, it's labour intensive. There’s an opportunity cost to the business. If employees or operators are spending time cleaning out IBCs, there's likely to be more productive things they could be doing in the business. This labour cost shouldn’t just be factored in as the hourly cost of labour, it should be factored into the value of what those people could be doing if they weren't spending time cleaning IBCs.

HEALTH & SAFETY ISSUES

Depending on the residue being cleaned out, this factor varies greatly. Manually cleaning out an IBC is unpleasant, particularly when the contents of the IBC are harmful or foul smelling. There can be some potential health and safety issues to consider.

POOR ACCURACY

Manual cleaning relies on a human being, being able to do the job thoroughly. It can be difficult to notice missed spots, particularly if the residue isn't very visible.

 Often humans will miss bits because small amounts of residue may remain or may not be seen, and this could be a potential source of contamination when the IBC is reused. Again, it depends what the situation is, what the substance is in there, and how critical it is to get them thoroughly cleaned.

ACCESSIBILITY

The entry point to the IBC is normally through the lid, and this is where the cleaning action is done. The upper corners of the IBC are quite difficult to clean, and if a jet washer, power washer or a hose is trying to be used, it can be tricky to reach those parts. This can lead to poor results or a lot of time and effort being used to clean those hard-to-reach areas.

These 4 problems can all be solved by having an automated IBC cleaning kit with a 360° cleaning head that goes into the IBC and cleans it efficiently.