OverPack Drums

What an Overpack Salvage Drum Is Used For

The overpack solves a specific problem: you have a container you cannot safely move, decant or dispose of as it stands. Sealing it inside a salvage drum makes it transportable again without the contents reaching a truck tray, a store floor or a stormwater pit.

The triggers are familiar to anyone running a liquids register:

• A steel drum has corroded at the chime and is weeping
• A drum was dropped and the seam has failed
• A container is bulging, or the bung will not seal
• Obsolete or unidentified stock is going to a licensed waste contractor
• A spill response has left contaminated absorbents

RelatedSpill Kits →

Our Range of Overpack Drums From 76 to 360 Litres

We stock the Ultra-Overpack Drum Salvage Drum Plus in multiple variants, covering capacities from 76 litres through to 360 litres.

The rule of thumb is simple: the overpack must be bigger than the drum going into it, in both diameter and height, with room to lower the damaged container in without forcing it. A standard 200 litre drum needs a 360 litre overpack, leaving roughly 160 litres of spare volume.

Screw Top Lids, Seals and Locking Rings

The closure is what makes an overpack a compliant container rather than a large bin. Screw top lids seal against a gasket and reclose by hand, which suits a site that needs to inspect the contents or add absorbent before disposal.

Before a unit leaves the yard, check three things:

1. 1The gasket is seated and free of grit, absorbent or product residue.
2. 2The lid is tightened evenly, not just nipped on one side.
3. 3The unit is labelled with the correct dangerous goods marks.

Keep spare lids and seals with the overpack. A missing gasket turns a two minute job into a half day problem.

Wheeled Overpack Drums for Moving a Leaking Container

Moving a damaged drum is the riskiest part of the job. A wheeled overpack lets one person relocate a contained drum without a forklift, which matters in a chemical store or a workshop aisle.

Bring the empty overpack to the damaged container rather than dragging the container across the floor. Contain the leak with absorbent, lower the drum in, seal the lid, then move the sealed unit. That order keeps the spill footprint to one spot. For heavier units a trolley or forklift is safer: a full 200 litre drum inside a 360 litre overpack is well over 200 kg.

Overpacks for Storage, Transport and Waste Disposal

Overpack drums do three jobs, and it is worth being clear which one you are buying for.

• Storage. Holding a compromised container under control until a disposal run is booked, ideally on a bunded pallet so the overpack sits in containment.
• Transport. Presenting a damaged container to a carrier in a form that meets dangerous goods rules.
• Waste disposal. Sealing contaminated absorbents, PPE and used product for collection.

The paperwork follows the same split: storage sits under your liquids register, transport under the Australian Dangerous Goods Code, and disposal under your waste contractor’s classification, which stays the same as the liquid it came from.

Keeping an Overpack Ready Beside Your Spill Kit

An overpack bought after the incident arrives too late to be useful. Sites that handle drums should hold at least one empty overpack, sized to the largest drum on the register, stored with the spill response gear. Between incidents it doubles as clean storage for absorbent, gloves and labels, so the kit and the containment vessel arrive together.

Our spill kit servicing and maintenance program can include overpacks in the inspection schedule across a whole site, so an auditor sees a maintained system rather than a shelf of equipment. Onsite servicing is primarily New South Wales based, with limited coverage into Queensland and Victoria through contractors and partners.

Chemical Resistant Polyethylene That Holds Up

Our overpack drums are moulded from polyethylene, which is why they hold what a steel drum could not. It does not corrode, so an acid or caustic product that has already eaten through a steel chime will not do the same to the overpack around it.

The moulded body has no seams or welds at the base, where a salvage container is most likely to fail under load. It tolerates UV and the temperature swing of an Australian yard, so a unit stored outdoors is still serviceable when needed, and it is light enough for one person to handle empty.

UN Rated for Dangerous Goods Transport

Where a damaged container of dangerous goods has to leave your site, the overpack must be UN rated for the material inside it. The Australian Dangerous Goods Code governs how dangerous goods are packaged, marked and transported by road and rail, and a carrier will refuse a load that does not comply.

Match the rating to the goods, not to the drum:

1. 1Identify the substance and packing group from the safety data sheet.
2. 2Confirm the overpack variant is rated for that packing group.
3. 3Mark the unit with the correct UN number, shipping name and labels.
4. 4Record the movement against your waste or transport documentation.

If you are not certain of the rating required, send us the safety data sheet.

Australia-Wide Delivery on Overpack Salvage Drums

Overpack drums are usually bought under pressure, which is why dispatch matters more than it does for planned stock. Orders placed before 11 am are dispatched the same day, and we deliver Australia wide from our base at Pendle Hill NSW 2145.

• 100 per cent Australian owned and operated, founded 2016
• Same day dispatch before 11 am, nationwide
• Data sheets and SDS in our digital library
• Brands including SpilMax, Ultratech, Chatoyer and Accumax Global
• One account across spill control, containment and stormwater

Call 1300 912 949 for help matching an overpack to a drum.

Choosing an Overpack for Drum Diameter and Height

Size the overpack against the container, not the volume of liquid. Three measurements decide it:

1. 1Drum diameter. The internal diameter must clear the widest point of the drum, usually the rolling hoops.
2. 2Drum height. The overpack must be taller than the drum so the lid seats without pressing on it.
3. 3Spare volume. A 200 litre drum in a 360 litre overpack leaves about 160 litres of headroom.

FAQs