Following successful in-store and online trials, the Refill Coalition has proved the viability of its refill and reuse solutions and is now planning to share the extensive learnings with industry through an Industry Webinar and White Paper with accompanying independent LifeCycle Assessment (LCA) to be published in May.

The Refill Coalition includes Ocado Retail, Aldi UK and the supply chain solutions company CHEP and was convened in 2020 by GoUnpackaged, the UK’s leading refill and reuse experts, as part of a project funded by UK Research & Innovations’ Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge, delivered by Innovate UK.

The Coalition collaborated to co-design two innovative reusable packaging solution:

• The online consumer sized vessel tested with Ocado is pre-filled with product and delivered to customers alongside the rest of their order, then returned to the driver when empty. Each consumer sized vessel replaces up to 5 single-use plastic packs^[i].
• The in-store solution tested with Aldi has replaced current standard bulk dispensers with reusable vessels located at a refill station. Customers bring their own packaging to refill at the station, using an improved easy weighing system. Each reusable vessel replaces up to 24 single-use plastic packs^[ii].

Positive results

The online Ocado reuse offering has been available to 65% of its customer base since August 2024 with positive reception, including high customer satisfaction scores and a sales share of 16% compared to single-use packaged equivalents. The unique online model contributed to the overall success of the Refill Coalition’s trial, and Ocado will continue to offer all current products to customers following positive feedback.  Customer research^[iii] shows very high levels of satisfaction with the hygiene (100%), and ease (99%) of the system, with almost all (96%) likely to buy again.

The in-store refill solution was trialled in Aldi UK‘s Solihull and Leamington Spa branches. The solution was received positively by customers in-store – refills consistently reached 30% of sales alongside their single-use packaged versions and, on some weeks up to 50%. Additionally, customer research^[iv] showed high levels of satisfaction with the hygiene (96%), speed (93%) and ease (89%) of the system, all key challenges with previous refill solutions. Aldi’s trial has come to a close, and the retailer be analysing and reviewing the outputs in order to continue developing its strategy for refill and reuse.

The vision for the trial was to test a standardised solution across multiple retailers. While it was not possible to achieve this during the course of the funded project, major UK retailers have identified the Refill Coalition system as the ‘next generation’ solution for refills. In addition, early indications from independent Lifecycle Analysis (LCA) conducted by Eunomia indicate that both solutions, once scaled, offer significant environmental benefits compared to single-use alternatives.

The Refill Coalition has high hopes for future implementation of these systems through a new industry-wide focus on reuse via work being carried out by WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) to draw up a ‘Plastics Pact Mark II’ with a new industry-wide focus on reuse.

“We are extremely proud of our collective work to design and launch these new reuse and refill systems, which form a key part of the solution to tackling the single-use plastics crisis. The trial demonstrates the solutions’ operational efficiency, clear environmental benefit and scalability which are critical steps towards industry transformation. Additionally, the sales share and in-depth research provide evidence of the significant consumer appetite for availability of refill and reuse as part of their regular shop. We look forward to seeing other retailers and brands taking up these proven solutions, enabling an acceleration towards a reuse future.”

Paul Davidson, Challenge Director, Innovate UK: Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge: “This collaborative, full supply chain project has successfully developed and trialled an end-to-end solution for refill in the grocery sector, both in-store and online, and we are delighted that the Ocado trial is set to continue. As a result of the innovative approach and hard work of the Refill Coalition partners, we now have a blueprint for retailers looking to mainstream refill within their operations and take action on reducing single-use packaging.”

^[i] Based on 500g of rice

^[ii] Based on 500g of rice

^[iii] Opinium Quantitative Survey of Ocado.com customers who purchased a reuse product, Nov 2024

^[iv] Opinium Quantitative Survey (Wave 1 – 303 Aldi shoppers – Feb ‘24. Wave 2 – 329 Aldi shoppers – Nov ‘24)