About HDPE CONTAINERS
Origins
Jerrycans were first designed in Germany in the 1930s and gained widespread acceptance during the Second World War due to their convenient and robust design. While the original design was made in steel, over time they were produced in plastic due to its lighter weight and improved strength, durability, and ease of handling.
Jerrycans Today
Fast forward to the 21st Century, "Jerrycan" is a colloquial term used to define plastic containers, including drums, canisters and carbouys, for packing and storage of liquids, gels and powders.
Plastic jerrycans come in various shapes and sizes ranging from 5 Litre cans to 30 litre carbouys, 50 litre drums, and 210 litre barrels.
Jerrycans can also be distinguished by their opening such as narrow mouth containers, wide mouth drums and full open top barrels.
Manufacturing Process
Jerrycans (also known as Jerricans) are primarily made from High Molecular Weight High Density Polyethylene (HM-HDPE). HDPE is the preferred material of choice due to its strength characteristics and chemical inertness that provide its containers with robustness and prevent them from reacting with materials that are stored in the containers.
Typically, HDPE containers are hollow and are blow moulded via an extrusion moulding process to take the shape of the desired article.
Applications of HDPE Containers
HM-HDPE plastic containers are used across a wide range of industries for their storage, packaging and transport requirements. These include packing of hazardous chemicals, solvents, industrial greases, flavours, fragrances, edible oil, water, pharmaceutical ingredients etc.
Generally liquid products such as chemicals, oil and lubricants are packed in narrow mouth containers while gels and powders such as grease and pharmaceutical agents are stored in wide mouth drums.
Manufacturers of HDPE Containers
Mauser is a global leader in industrial packaging solutions and traces its history back to 1900 when it invented the first metal drum and subsequently went on to introduce the fist all-plastic can.
Uberplast pioneered industrial packaging in India and was the first to introduce automatic blow-molded solutions in the country, tracing its history back to the 1980s when it revolutionized vented packaging solutions for the hazardous chemicals industry.
Greif is a global leader in industrial packaging products and services with a rich 150-year legacy and a global footprint covering over 200 locations across 30 countries.