ADR UN Big Bags

ADR UN Big Bags are intended to contain hazardous, corrosive, or polluting products, so they require a special safety check and should therefore always be accompanied by the corresponding certification.

ADR Big Bags Control

In addition to the usual quality controls of each manufacturer and their good practices in manufacturing processes, certifications for ADR UN Big Bags must include external tests and controls performed by rigorous independent certification laboratories.

Some approvals are special for some types of products such as Big Bags for Asbestos or Amosite. There are also ADR UN sacks.

Responsibility for the use of ADR Big Bags

It is the responsibility of the company or person who uses the ADR Big Bags and fills them with contents to comply with the different safety standards and regulations that apply in each case. Multisac declines any responsibility in this respect as a simple supplier of ADR Big Bags according to the requested specifications, without any control over their use once delivered.

ADR Big Bags insurances

It is very important to follow the rules of proper handling and safety in the use of any product supplied by Multisac, especially in ADR Big Bags whose contents are usually products for food use or are hazardous, polluting, or abrasive materials.

The ADR or “European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road” is an agreement signed by several European countries in 1957 to regulate the transport of dangerous goods by road.

Hazardous products symbols

What are hazardous materials?

Goods are classified as dangerous goods for long-distance transport ranging from those that are highly hazardous (such as explosives and acids) to everyday products such as paints, solvents, and pesticides found in any home or workplace. Dangerous goods can be substances or products. The transportation of such goods is regulated to ensure the safety of the lives of people, the vehicle transporting the goods, and the substances or foodstuffs they may contain. For example, solvents must be in hermetically sealed containers, otherwise the fumes or gases that may be released could affect people in the vicinity. Other substances that cannot be harmful unless they come into contact with fire or water are also classified as dangerous goods.

When transporting “Hazardous Materials”, in most cases, the packages must be certified to United Nations (UN) standards. International agreements for the transport of dangerous goods require that their packages be designed and certified by a competent national authority. The containers are tested to verify compliance with UN specifications to ensure their suitability for the transport of dangerous goods. These containers are often referred to as “Homologated”, “United Nations Approved” or “UN Certified” and are marked and identified in a particular way, preceded by the United Nations logo, and followed by a specific code.

Sometimes the term “Approved for ADR products” or similar is used, even though it is not strictly correct, since ADR is the acronym for the regulations governing hazardous products and their packaging for transport by road only.

Publications and regulations for hazardous materials

The basis for all national and international regulations for the safe transport of dangerous goods is contained and published in “The Orange Book” which describes the recommendations and specifications of the “UN Committee of Experts”.

There are 5 relevant organizations that each publish their own manual of regulations for different modes of transport following the recommendations of “The Orange Book”, and they are the following:
• “The Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air” published by the “International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO)”.
• “The International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG)” Published by the “International Maritime Organisation (IMO)”.
• “The European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR)” published by “The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)”.
• “The International Agreement for the Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail (RID)” published by “The Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF).”
• “The Hazardous Materials Regulations (Title 49 CFR Parts 100-185)” published by “The Office of Hazardous Materials Safety, US DOT”

What is ADR and ADR Big Bags?

The acronym ADR stands for “Agreement on Dangerous Goods by Road” which in Spanish would be “Acuerdo De Transporte De Mercancías Peligrosas Por Carretera”.

Dangerous goods are understood to be those materials and objects whose transport is prohibited according to the ADR or authorized only under the conditions foreseen therein. In the event of an accident during transport, they may pose risks to people, property, and the environment, and their packaging, handling, and transport conditions are specially regulated.

ADR is, in short, a European agreement regulating the international transport of dangerous goods by road, by which most Member States have agreed on a set of common standards or rules for the transport of dangerous goods by road on their territory and for the crossing of borders. Complying with ADR means taking into account several important aspects when transporting dangerous goods.

In Spain there is a Royal Decree that requires compliance with the ADR, which is revised every two years to take into account technical advances, as well as the appearance of new materials, changes in labeling, etc.

To summarize, the ADR regulates:
– Materials that are considered hazardous and those that can be transported by road.
– The types of containers and packaging that can be used.
– Labeling and marking of packages and vehicles.
– Necessary documentation to be able to carry out this transport.
– Vehicle types, special equipment, and certificates.
– Standards on the construction of cisterns.
– Loading, stowage, and unloading of goods.

Testing and testing of UN ADR Big Bags for hazardous materials

According to the “Orange Book”, hazardous materials and therefore their packaging can be classified into three levels or groups:

Hazardousness level	Packing group	UN Symbol	Maximum volume	Height for tests	Applies to Big Bags
High	I	X	1,5 m3	1,8 m	No
Medium	II	Y	3 m3	1,2 m	Yes
Low	III	Z	3 m3	0,8 m	Yes

Group I includes II and III, and Group II includes III.

The 6 tests carried out at Big Bags to be able to prove a UN homologation are the following:

TOP LIFT Test: For 5 minutes the Big Bags must remain lifted by its handles, supporting a weight 6 times greater than that specified in its Approval (SWL). That is to say, for example, for a Big Bag approved to support 1,000 kilos, it must support at least 6,000 kilos of weight for at least 5 minutes.
Note: This does not mean that the Big Bag has a 6:1 safety factor. The safety factor is an unknown concept in the UN regulation, which does not classify containers by safety factors, but by Groups I, II, and III. The safety factors apply only to Big Bags intended to contain non-hazardous materials. In reality, this test is more demanding for a Big Bag than meeting a 6:1 safety factor.

DROP Test: When the bag is filled to its maximum working load (SWL), it is placed at a height of 80 cm (if it is a Big Bag of the Group III) or at 120 cm (in the case of a Big Bag from Group III II), dropping it to the ground. To pass the test, the product contained in the Big Bags must not leak anywhere.
TOPPLE Test: This is the most stringent test, and consists of dropping the Big Bag on its side from a height of 80 cm (for Big Bags of the group “TOPPLE Test”). III) or 120 cm (for Big Bags on Group II), without allowing the product to leak from the Big Bag.
RIGHTNING Test: It consists of placing the Big Bag filled with its maximum load (SWL) on the ground horizontally, and by means of 2 handles (these Big Bags have 4 handles on the top) or sometimes even 1, lifting and suspending it without the handles breaking.
TEAR Test: Consists of placing the Big Bag full of product (non-porous) with 2 times its approved weight (SWL) and keeping it in suspension, a 10 cm long cut is made in the body of the bag. After 5 minutes the cut may not have increased in length.
STACKING Test: The Big Bag should be filled to its maximum working weight (SWL) and placed on the firm ground at its base. As many Big Bags of the same characteristics as necessary should be stacked on top of each other to have 1.8 times the maximum stacking weight defined in the specifications of the Big Bag itself and thus remain for 24 hours without breakage or spillage of its contents.

Once all these tests have been passed, the certifying center issues a unique UN number assigned to the product, which must be part of the mandatory coding with which each Big Bag must be marked in a durable, legible, easily visible manner and at least 12 mm high.

The UN coding system for ADR Big Bags

The UN coding system indicates various packaging characteristics, as well as information on the test levels that the packaging has successfully passed. Because these test levels are related to the level of risk and the physical and chemical characteristics of the substance to be contained, the UN codes also include information on some of the properties of the materials that can be disposed of in the containers.

UN Big Bags must be printed with a visible code that identifies their approval in the following format as an example:

Group 1.- Type of container in which…

1: Jerrycans
2: Kegs
3: Jars
4: Boxes
5: Bags
…
13: Gravity loaded, no pressure. Big Bags are assigned code 13.

The next digit or letter indicates the material of construction where the…

A: Steel
B: Aluminum
C: Wood
…
H: Plastic Materials. Big Bags are assigned code H.

Thus, for the four types of fabric that make up the vast majority of Big Bags, their corresponding codes are as follows:

13H1: Polypropylene plastic fabric, uncoated, and no inner liner for solids
13H2: Polypropylene plastic fabric, coated for solids
13H3: Polypropylene plastic fabric, with inner liner for solids
13H4: Polypropylene plastic fabric, coated and with inner liner for solids

Group 2.– Group X, Y, or Z according to quality and resistance tests.

Hazardousness level	Packing group	UN Symbol	Maximum volume	Height for tests	Applies to Big Bags
High	I	X	1,5 m3	1,8 m	No
Medium	II	Y	3 m3	1,2 m	Yes
Short	III	Z	3 m3	0,8 m	Yes

Group I includes II and III, and Group II includes III.

Group 3.- Month and year of manufacture respectively
where, for example, 01-23 or 01.23 or 0123 would correspond to January 2023

Group 4.- Country of manufacture
where, for example, GB would correspond, in the United Kingdom the UN test certificate has been issued.

Group 5.- Manufacturer and its certification number
where, for example, TRP -005 would indicate that it is TRP manufacturer’s certification 005.

Group 6.- Stacked weight test in Kg.
where, for example, 5400 would report that trials have been conducted stacking 5400 kg on top of the Big Bag. If the Big Bags cannot be stacked, a 0 should appear. The following symbols may also appear on the Big Bag itself or on its label, the first one indicating that the Big Bag cannot be stacked, and the second one informing that it can be stacked up to the specified weight.