Recognizing that shippers of chemicals and hazardous materials have a wide range of choice when selecting containers, members of The Reusable Industrial Packaging Association (RIPA) know that reusability is just one of the factors in the selection of packaging. RIPA members all manufacture recycle or recondition packagings that are intended to offer multiple life cycles. Other beneficial factors include size, shape, materials of construction, ease of disposition and, of course, cost. Another feature of selecting reusable packaging for shipments of dangerous goods is that international standards and many national regulations require all packagings to be capable of passing a series of performance tests. Packagings are tested, certified and marked to a particular level of performance appropriate to the contents. In the US and Canada, dangerous goods regulations also require a minimum wall thickness for steel and plastics drums in order to qualify for reconditioning and reuse. Therefore, a reusable package is generally a more durable container then those intended for a single use.
Associations HazMat