Batteries and lithium — the fastest-growing dangerous good
E-bikes, power tools, energy storage, power banks — today lithium batteries are moved by almost everyone who moves anything. They are Class 9 goods with rules of their own for packaging, marking and papers. We shape those rules around your flows — from new modules to damaged ones.
In January 2025 an airliner burned out at Busan airport — the probable source was a power bank, and the ground logistics of the very same batteries runs under ADR.
This is what you already ship
Typical dangerous goods of the industry — with the real Table A entries. Tap any card to open the full UN page in our reference.
Class 9UN 3480, LITHIUM ION BATTERIES
Lithium ion batteries — spare modules, distribution
LQ 0
Class 9UN 3481, LITHIUM ION BATTERIES CONTAINED IN EQUIPMENT or LITHIUM ION BATTERIES PACKED WITH EQUIPMENT
Batteries in equipment — e-bikes, tools, power banks
LQ 0
Class 9UN 3090, LITHIUM METAL BATTERIES
Lithium metal batteries — meters, sensors, IoT
LQ 0
Class 9UN 3171, BATTERY POWERED VEHICLE or BATTERY POWERED EQUIPMENT
Battery-powered vehicles — scooters, forklifts, EVs
Class 9UN 3536, LITHIUM BATTERIES INSTALLED IN CARGO TRANSPORT UNIT lithium ion batteries or lithium metal batteries
Batteries installed in cargo transport units — containerised storage
LQ 0
Class 9UN 3551, SODIUM ION BATTERIES with organic electrolyte
Sodium ion batteries — new entries of ADR 2025
LQ 0
Three ways your goods can travel
The same product can go as limited quantities, under the 1.1.3.6 partial exemption or in full ADR — the classification and the packaging decide.
Limited quantities (LQ)
Small inner packagings within the column 7a limit, up to 30 kg gross — the goods travel with the LQ diamond, free of most other ADR provisions (Chapter 3.4).
Partial exemption (1.1.3.6)
Below the transport category threshold per transport unit — no orange plates, no written instructions, no ADR driver certificate (the list in 1.1.3.6.2).
Full ADR
Above the thresholds the goods travel under the full set of rules — transport document, plates and labels, equipment, trained crew and every participant duty.
The same lithium ion battery travels differently — small cells may fit under the SP 188 relief, a batch of spare modules may fit under 1.1.3.6, and damaged batteries ship in full ADR with special conditions clarified during classification.
Who answers for what
ADR splits the duties among the participants of the carriage. These are the roles your company typically holds — with the exact ADR paragraphs.
Consignor
Hands over only consignments that conform to ADR — classified, authorized, in approved packagings, with the transport documents furnished to the carrier.
Packer
Follows the packing and mixed-packing conditions and, when preparing packages for carriage, the marking and labelling requirements.
Loader
Checks packagings for damage before handing over, observes the mixed-loading prohibitions and the separation from foodstuffs.
Unloader
Compares the transport document with what actually arrived before unloading.
For each of these roles the company needs an appointed safety adviser (1.8.3.1) — ours works on subscription.
About the DGSAWhat a mistake costs
A damaged cell in an ordinary box — the sums below are what national law charges for it.
Sanctions are national — checks are European
Every ADR country sets its own fines for dangerous goods violations. Roadside checks follow one European standard — Directive (EU) 2022/1999 with a common list of infringements by risk category. Open your country to see the authorities and the exact amounts.
Find your countryAnd beyond the fines
- A vehicle stopped at a roadside check — with your customer waiting for the delivery
- An incident with an untrained crew — and an insurer reading the file closely
- Violations on record — and inspections coming back more often
What the law expects from you
ADR duties come first — and your industry carries its own EU rules on top.
Under ADR
- Classify every product before it is handed over for carriage
- Train everyone who touches dangerous goods (Chapter 1.3)
- Appoint a safety adviser — carriers, consignors, loaders, packers alike
- Mark, document and equip every consignment correctly
EU rules of the industry
Batteries Regulation — Regulation (EU) 2023/1542
The full life cycle of batteries on the EU market — from design to collection. The market rules do not replace ADR — carriage of the same batteries has a regime of its own.
WEEE — Directive 2012/19/EU
Take-back of electrical equipment. Reverse logistics of used devices with batteries is carriage too — often of dangerous goods.
The industry in numbers
1,200+
battery fires in refuse trucks and at waste sites in a year — United Kingdom, up 71% on 2022 (2024)
Source · Material FocusIs this about you?
If even one line matches your operation — it is worth a conversation.
- You sell or service e-bikes, scooters or power tools
- Spare batteries go out to customers by courier in plain boxes
- Damaged and rejected batteries pile up in the workshop
- Shipments rely on SP 188, but nobody has checked the limits of the relief
- Nobody in the company is formally appointed as the safety adviser
Our solutions
Lithium rules change with every ADR edition — on subscription your documents change with them.
Cargo instruction with the transport document entry
Classification, the carriage regime and the ready transport document entry — for a specific cargo.
from €50 / document
A consultant on subscription
A certified safety adviser, the appointment notice and the platform — from €50 a month plus €10 per consignment.
ADRplus One
Train the team
Chapter 1.3 courses online, in your languages — at your own pace, with certificates.
Course is being updated
ADR compliance audit
A remote compliance audit with a report — where you stand and what to fix first.
€290
Questions from the industry
Have a different question?
Contact the consultantNew batteries in factory packaging — are they dangerous goods too?
Yes, lithium batteries are Class 9 goods whether they are new or not. Reliefs exist for small cells and batteries in equipment, but their limits are special conditions clarified during classification — not by gut feeling.
What do we do with damaged and rejected batteries?
Do not ship them the same way as new ones. Damaged and rejected batteries fall under special conditions — SP 376 and SP 377, applied case by case during classification. We separate the flows and select the packaging before the battery moves.
The courier accepts our boxes without questions — so everything is fine?
No. The consignor responsibility does not disappear because a parcel was accepted. Marking, documents and the network restrictions are your zone — and the consignor is the first one found when a battery starts smoking in a terminal.
Where do we start?
Send the list of batteries and devices — types, capacities, flows. We prepare the cargo instruction with the transport document entry from €50 per document, and the subscription from €50 plus €10 per carriage covers the adviser, the platform and the training of your people.
Tell us how your goods move
Within one working day you get a clear answer — what applies to you, what does not, and what it costs to be in order.