— APPLICATION
HDPE for jerry cans, drums and industrial containers
An HDPE drum grade is judged in a test report. The full container has to survive a drop at freezing temperatures and weeks under a warm stack, with the real contents inside. Jerry cans, L-ring drums and tight-head drums for chemicals, agrochemicals and pharmaceutical liquids are blow moulded from high molecular weight HDPE. This page explains what that material has to deliver and how we support the design-type file.
— REQUIREMENTS
What industrial packaging HDPE must survive
For dangerous goods, a jerry can or drum is approved as a design type after a fixed series of tests. Under ADR and RID, plastics drums and jerricans are cooled to -18 °C or lower before the drop test, so impact strength has to hold at that temperature. Containers for liquids are then stacked for 28 days at 40 °C or more, under the weight of a stack at least 3 metres high. They also face leakproofness and internal pressure tests.
The contents come first, though. To prove compatibility, filled samples are stored for six months with the product they will carry, or tested with standard liquids that stand for it.
— SELECTION
HDPE for jerry cans: molecular weight, ESCR and stiffness
Large containers need very high molecular weight HDPE. The melt has to hold a heavy parison without sagging, and long chains give the toughness for a cold drop. These grades flow so little that melt flow rate is quoted at 190 °C/21.6 kg, not the 2.16 kg load used for most injection grades.
Within that family the choice is a balance. More stiffness lets you cut wall weight and still pass the stacking test. Stress-cracking resistance matters most with surfactants and wetting agents, which is why one of the standard test liquids is a wetting solution. Light-weight designs lean on stiffness; big drums lean on impact.
Not every industrial container is blow moulded. Pails and buckets are injection moulded, often in impact PP for cold-store toughness. Flexible IBCs (big bags) are woven from PP tape; see raffia, tapes and strapping.
— GRADES
Grades we can supply
Compare blow-moulding HDPE melt flow only with figures measured at the same load.
PP homopolymer
CertyForm
·
Velogy
PP
CertyForm P1001
PP homopolymer
Polypropylene homopolymer for injection moulding and film applications, typically used in medical device components, closures and labware parts.
Injection moulding
Film extrusion
Industries
Medical & healthcare
KeyForm
·
Velogy
PP
KeyForm P0710
PP homopolymer
KeyForm P0710 is a polypropylene homopolymer for extrusion and thermoforming. Its additive package is designed for low water carry-over.
Sheet extrusion/thermoforming
Compounding
Film extrusion
Industries
Flexible packaging
Industrial
Rigid packaging
Fibres & nonwovens
CertyForm
·
Velogy
PP
CertyForm P0701
PP homopolymer
CertyForm P0701 is a polypropylene homopolymer for extrusion and thermoforming. It is typically used in pharmaceutical packaging and blisters.
Extrusion
Sheet extrusion/thermoforming
Industries
Medical & healthcare
HDPE
KeyForm
·
Velogy
HDPE
KeyForm H0401
HDPE
KeyForm H0401 is a high-density polyethylene for small blow-moulded items, including thin-wall packaging, consumer goods and toys. It combines high stiffness with high stress-cracking resistance and has a broad molecular-weight distribution.
Blow moulding
Extrusion blow moulding
Industries
Consumer goods
Industrial
Rigid packaging
KeyForm
·
Velogy
HDPE
KeyForm H0100
HDPE
KeyForm H0100 is a high-density polyethylene combining stiffness and environmental stress-cracking resistance with high impact resistance. It contains antioxidants and is supplied as pellets.
Blow moulding
Extrusion blow moulding
Industries
Industrial
AdvyForm
·
Velogy
HDPE
AdvyForm H0202
HDPE
AdvyForm H0202 is a high-density polyethylene combining stiffness and environmental stress-cracking resistance with good impact resistance. It contains antioxidants and is supplied as pellets.
Blow moulding
Extrusion blow moulding
Industries
Industrial
— NEED HELP CHOOSING?
Not sure which grade fits?
Send us the container size, what it will carry, its packing group and the tests it has to pass.
— PROCESSING
Blow moulding large parts
Jerry cans and drums are extrusion blow moulded; large drums usually run on an accumulator head that pushes out the whole parison in one stroke. Parison programming sets the wall distribution. The handle and the pinch-off are the usual weak points in drop and stress-cracking tests, so they decide how much wall you can take out. Tell us the container size, its weight and your head type.
Extrusion blow moulding
Injection moulding
— DOCUMENTATION
Period of use and recycled content
Plastics drums and jerricans may carry dangerous goods for five years from their date of manufacture, unless the competent authority approves otherwise, and for a shorter period where the substance carried calls for it (ADR and RID, 4.1.1.15). Packaging for the transport of dangerous goods is exempt from the recycled-content minimums of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (Article 7(4)), so a jerry can for hazardous contents is not obliged to take recycled material. For the test file, we supply producer data such as FNCT and cold impact values.
— PRODUCERS
Producers for this application
Brands for this application
— FAQ
Common questions
Is there a UN approved jerry can HDPE?
What does a pharmaceutical or medical jerry can need?
— RELATED
