Following a successful trial period, the Refill Coalition has proved the viability of its refill and reuse solutions and will share the learnings with industry shortly.

The Refill Coalition includes Ocado Retail, Aldi UK and the supply chain solutions company CHEP and was convened in 2020 by GoUnpackaged as part of an Innovate UK-funded project that ends in March 2025.

The Coalition collaborated to co-design two innovative reusable packaging solutions in order to reduce the 90 billion units of single-use plastics sold annually by UK grocers.

An online Ocado reuse offering has been available to 65 per cent of its customer base since August 2024 with positive reception, high customer satisfaction scores (pasta 4.9, rice 4.8) and a sales share of 16 per cent 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.

An in-store refill solution was trialled in Aldi‘s Solihull and Leamington Spa branches. The solution was received positively by customers in-store with refills consistently reaching 30 per cent of sales alongside their single-use packaged versions and, on some weeks up to half.

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.

UK retailers are collaborating to launch a second major push on reuse and refill in a Plastics Pact Mark II being drawn up by WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) who revealed there is a “clear appetite” across the industry to agree on new standardised principles for reuse. The Refill Coalition has high hopes for future implementation of these systems through a new industry-wide focus on reuse.

The Refill Coalition released this joint statement “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”.

---