The tight-head plastic drum, such as the L-ring drum: limits, tests and service life.
UN 1H1 is the packaging code for a plastic drum with a closed head and openings no wider than 7 cm, such as the L-ring drum. It holds at most 450 litres and 400 kg net, and may carry dangerous goods for five years from the month it was made.
Decode a full 1H1 mark Ask for 1H1 containers
| Character | Meaning |
|---|---|
1 | Drum: a cylindrical packaging with flat or convex ends, pail-shaped packagings included |
H | Plastics |
1 | Non-removable head, with openings no wider than 7 cm |
| Maximum capacity | 450 litres (6.1.4.8.7; ADR 6.1.4.8.9) |
|---|---|
| Maximum net mass | 400 kg |
As a single packaging for liquids, packing instruction P001 sets the working limits by packing group. For a 1H1 that is 250 litres in packing group I and 450 litres in II and III.
Liquids or solids, in any packing group the mark allows. Apart from recycled plastic used under a quality programme and marked REC, no used material other than production regrind may go into the drum. UV protection comes from carbon black, pigments or inhibitors where it is needed.
| Test | What the design has to survive | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|
| Drop | Cooled to −18 °C, filled to at least 98 per cent and dropped on its weakest points: from 1.8 m for packing group I, 1.2 m for II and 0.8 m for III. Tested with water, a liquid denser than 1.2 drops from its relative density times 1.5, 1.0 or 0.67 m. | 6.1.5.3 |
| Leakproofness | Held under water for five minutes at an air pressure of 30 kPa for packing group I or 20 kPa for II and III. Every container made for liquids passes the same test before its first use. | 6.1.5.4, 6.1.1.3 |
| Internal pressure | Held for 30 minutes at the hydraulic pressure the mark states, at least 250 kPa for packing group I. | 6.1.5.5 |
| Stacking | Carries the weight of a 3 m stack of identical full packages for 28 days at 40 °C when made for liquids, 24 hours when made for solids. | 6.1.5.6 |
| Compatibility | The plastic has to be shown to resist the contents. ADR names the methods: six months filled with the goods, or for polyethylene three weeks at 40 °C with standard liquids. | 6.1.5.2.4; ADR 6.1.5.2.5, 6.1.6 |
| Permeability, ADR | For flammable liquids, no more than 0.008 g per litre per hour lost through the wall at 23 °C. Polyethylene designs need the test only for benzene, toluene, xylene and mixtures with them. | ADR 6.1.5.7 |
A design marked S for solids needs the drop and stacking tests only. The leakproofness and pressure tests belong to designs for liquids.
Five years from the month of manufacture for dangerous goods, unless the competent authority approves a longer period or the substance sets a shorter one: two years, for example, for nitric acid over 55 per cent. The month and year are marked, usually on a clock symbol. The clock does not restart after reconditioning (4.1.1.15).
1H2 is the plastic drum with a removable head, or any opening wider than 7 cm, round plastic pails included. It carries solids and packing group II and III liquids, and packing group I liquids only when they are viscous. 3H1 is a plastic jerrican of up to 60 litres. 6HA1 is a composite: a plastic receptacle inside a steel drum.
UN 1H1/X1.2/250/25/NL/VL826A closed-head plastic drum, approved for packing groups I, II and III, for liquids up to relative density 1.2, pressure-tested at 250 kPa, made in 2025, design approved in the Netherlands.
| Part | On the mark | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Packaging code | 1H1 | Closed-head plastic drum (1 = drum, H = plastic, 1 = non-removable head) |
| Performance level | X | Approved for packing groups I, II and III (high, medium and low danger) |
| Relative density | 1.2 | Tested for liquids up to a relative density of 1.2 (water is 1.0) |
| Test pressure | 250 | Passed a hydraulic pressure test at 250 kPa |
| Year of manufacture | 25 | Made in 2025 |
| Approving country | NL | Design approved in the Netherlands |
| Manufacturer or approval number | VL826 | Identifies the manufacturer or the approved design, as set by the approving authority |
Plastic drums and jerricans also carry the month of manufacture, usually on a clock symbol beside the mark.
Another 1H1 mark, decoded: UN 1H1/Y1.9/200/25/D/BAM 3360
We do not list this exact code. Our nearest designs are 1H2.
Round PP Bucket, 2.5L to 20L2.5 to 20 litres, eighteen sizesUN status: ask us
Salvage Drums & Spill Response Storage75 to 360 litresUN status: ask usApproval is per design and per plant, and each design carries its own level, density and test pressure. Send your contents and we confirm the design that matches your mark.
For dangerous goods, five years counted from the month on the mark. The competent authority can allow longer, and a few substances, nitric acid over 55 per cent among them, cut it to two.
Both are plastic drums. 1H1 has a fixed head with openings no wider than 7 cm. 1H2 has a removable head or a wider opening, and carries solids and packing group II and III liquids; in packing group I only viscous liquids.
The standards and regulations this page relies on, at their issuing body. Where a market rule is named here, check the current revision before you specify against it.
Checked against the UN Model Regulations, Rev. 24, and ADR 2025 on 5 October 2026. Decode any other mark with our UN packaging code decoder.
Send what goes in them, the size and where they ship. We reply with the design certified to this code, the plant named on its certificate, and a price.