In today’s fast-moving asphalt and road surfacing sectors, delays are costly. Whether you’re running a spray coat crew, managing a satellite depot, or scaling up capacity for a peak-season contract, waiting months for a traditional bitumen tank farm to be installed simply isn’t practical.
The question many UK operators are now asking is: can you really set up a fully functional bitumen storage solution in a matter of weeks? The answer depends entirely on the type of storage you’re using.
Why Traditional Installations Are Slowing Projects Down
For decades, fixed tank farms have dominated the UK’s bitumen storage landscape. These systems often work well in centralised or long-term installations, but they come with significant drawbacks when speed and flexibility are required.
Most traditional setups involve:
On-site civil works
Construction of bund walls or foundations
Extended permitting cycles
Separate systems for heating, discharge, and control
High upfront costs and long ROI timelines
Even when timelines run smoothly, these facilities can take months to plan, install, and commission, delaying your ability to supply, scale, or relocate when needed.
The MEST Bitutainer™: Bitumen Storage Without the Infrastructure Burden
TEC’s MEST Bitutainer™ offers a different approach. It’s a self-contained, mobile storage tank designed specifically for on-site use, with no bund walls, no foundations, and no separate heating system required.
Delivered as a turnkey solution, it can be deployed to your location and made operational without civil works or complex site integration. This reduces setup time, removes hidden installation costs, and enables storage capacity where traditional infrastructure would be impractical or delayed.
Each MEST is trailer-portable, side-loader friendly, and built to work as part of a mobile logistics chain. Whether you’re adding backup storage or servicing a remote job site, the system is built for readiness.
MEST Bitutainer™
Bitumen Storage Solution
MEST Bitutainer™
Bitumen Storage Solution
What Makes It So Fast to Deploy?
The MEST’s integrated features eliminate the need for additional components or on-site build work. Every unit comes equipped with:
Secondary containment to meet environmental standards without bund walls
Integrated heating system (electric or diesel options)
Built-in pipework, valves, and discharge systems
Pre-fitted control panel with level and temperature monitoring
Standardised 20ft footprint for easy transport and setup
The system is CSC certified for road transport and crane-liftable via standard corner castings, making it compatible with existing haulage and handling equipment.
Proven in the UK by Real Operators
The MEST is already gaining ground in the UK market. In early 2025, TEC supplied mobile storage units to Polybitumens, supporting their push for modular logistics options across regional projects. Read the full press release.
In another application, spray coat contractors used the MEST Bitutainer™ to establish operational storage at temporary job sites, reducing transport time and streamlining material handling between loads. See how the MEST supports spray coat logistics.
These examples show the versatility of the system in environments where timing, mobility, and compliance all matter.
Scalable and Compliant for UK Projects
While it’s compact and mobile, the MEST doesn’t cut corners on performance or safety. Each tank provides:
Up to 54m³ of storage in a single unit
Integrated overflow and emergency venting systems
Compliant secondary containment with CE-marked inner tank
Heating redundancy and full operator control
This makes it suitable for both public and private projects where local compliance is critical and infrastructure timelines are tight.
For operations needing more than one unit, MEST tanks can be deployed in clusters, scaled up or down depending on project phase, and repositioned between jobs, something not possible with permanent storage systems.
See How Fast You Can Be Operational
If your project timeline can’t afford six-month lead times, the MEST Bitutainer™ offers a faster path to fully compliant, on-site bitumen storage.
To see if the MEST fits your storage needs download the data sheet, or request a project consultation.