{"id":886568,"date":"2026-04-07T07:00:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/?p=886568"},"modified":"2026-04-08T14:02:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T18:02:30","slug":"large-packagings-for-hazardous-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecompliancecenter.com\/ca\/help-center\/articles\/large-packagings-for-hazardous-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"Large Packagings for Hazardous Materials"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Large Packagings for Hazardous Materials<\/h2>\n

Introduction: A New Option in Hazmat Packaging<\/h4>\n

When most people think about hazardous materials packaging, they picture either \u201cnon-bulk\u201d packaging such as drums, cartons or cylinders, or \u201cbulk\u201d packaging, such intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), tank trucks or railway tank cars. But there\u2019s another type of packaging making its way onto the market, called \u201clarge packagings.\u201d These specialized containers offer both safety and efficiency in the transport of hazardous materials, but shippers and carriers should become familiar with them and how they work.<\/p>\n

What Are Large Packagings, and Why Are We Seeing Them Now?<\/h4>\n

Under both the \u201cHazardous Materials Regulations<\/a><\/strong>\u201d in Title 49 of the Code of Regulations<\/em> (49 CFR) and international rules such as the UN Model Regulations, large packagings are defined as containers with a capacity greater than 450 liters (about 119 gallons), but not exceeding 3,000 liters (793 gallons). This would seem to make them equivalent to intermediate bulk containers (IBCs). But the difference that \u201cbulk\u201d containers aren\u2019t meant to have inner containers, while \u201clarge packagings\u201d are designed to hold inner packagings. In a sense, they\u2019re a hybrid between a non-bulk combination packaging and an IBC. Or just think of them as overgrown combination packagings that exceed the normal 450 liter limit for those packagings. Essentially, a large packaging is a bigger outer box, drum, or cage-type container that safely consolidates smaller containers of hazardous materials for easier handling and transport.<\/p>\n

Regulatory Background and Adoption<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Large packagings were first introduced in the UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods<\/em><\/a><\/strong> (the UN Model Regulations), appearing officially in the 9th revised edition in 1995. The regulators intended to create a packaging option that sat between smaller combination packagings (like boxes containing bottles or cans) and intermediate bulk containers (IBCs). Large packagings were designed to consolidate multiple inner packagings, while IBCs are meant to directly contain the substance itself.<\/p>\n

Following their inclusion in the UN Model Regulations, countries and modal regulations gradually adopted them. In the U.S., for example, the DOT incorporated large packagings into the \u201cHazardous Materials Regulations\u201d in the late 1990s, aligning with international standards. However, large packagings didn\u2019t seem to have much of an impact at first in North America. But they have become much more common internationally and are making their way into the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n

What Are Common Types of Large Packagings?<\/h4>\n

Large packagings have to have strong outer containers, since their weights are typically higher than normal non-bulk packages. They can come as:<\/p>\n