Amcor’s refill containers central to Ocado’s Reuse Push

Amcor’s work with Ocado Retail on the UK’s most advanced supermarket-led refill trial is emerging as a test case for how reusable packaging could scale across mainstream grocery.

The project — run in partnership with the Refill Coalition and facilitated by GoUnpackaged — offers a rare combination of real‑world consumer data, engineered packaging performance, and cross‑industry collaboration. Together, these elements reveal why Amcor’s refill containers were designed the way they were, and why Ocado and its partners believe reuse can move from niche to normal.

Ocado Retail’s decision to continue the trial that began in 2024 reflects strong operational and customer results. The retailer describes its online reuse system as having “surpassed commercial, operational, customer, and environmental targets since its launch in 2024,” according to Laura Fernandez, senior sustainability manager at Ocado Retail. She adds that the scheme is now expanding to reach “90 per cent of our customer base and increasing the product range, making reuse more accessible to customers and setting a new industry standard.”

For Ocado, the motivation is that a scalable reuse model could reduce packaging waste, cut extended producer responsibility (pEPR) costs, and strengthen its position as a sustainability leader in UK grocery. The retailer has also helped establish the Reuse Packaging Partnership (RPP), signalling that major grocers see reuse as a shared infrastructure challenge rather than a competitive differentiator.

Amcor’s role has been to design packaging robust enough to survive repeated cycles of filling, delivery, consumer use, return, washing, and redistribution—without compromising food safety or operational efficiency.

The company developed two bespoke containers: a 2 kg vessel with a wide opening for dry goods and a 3 kg version with a narrower neck for liquids. Both were engineered to withstand hot washing, avoid trap points that could hinder cleaning, and maximise space efficiency in Ocado’s delivery crates.

Florent Souty, general manager of blow moulding specialties at Amcor and a member of the Refill Coalition advisory panel, said: “We’re proud to be involved in a project that looks to redefine the nature of packaging for the future. By proving the potential for large-scale infrastructure, and planting the seeds for changes to consumer behaviour, we can support the latest findings from GoUnpackaged and its partners in the Refill Coalition.”

The containers’ thicker walls and rounded-shoulder design are not aesthetic choices—they are functional decisions intended to ensure durability, safe handling, and reliable washing performance over dozens of cycles.

The continuation of the trial coincides with GoUnpackaged’s new report, A 30%+ reuse future for the UK, which uses Ocado’s trial data to quantify the environmental and economic potential of reuse. The report suggests that achieving 30% reuse across UK retail could deliver a 95% reduction in CO₂e emissions and £136 million in annual savings through reduced pEPR costs.

Catherine Conway, reuse lead at GoUnpackaged, emphasises the importance of real-world performance data: “We estimate each container can be refilled between 50 and 100 times before being removed from circulation, so the ongoing data from Ocado Retail will be critical to definitively establishing the recommended usage.” She adds that “everything we’re seeing to date aligns with our estimate, and the quality of the packaging solution devised by Amcor is hugely important to the success of the project.”

The Ocado–Amcor–Refill Coalition project is significant because it tackles the two biggest barriers to reuse:

1. Infrastructure readiness: proving that washing, refilling, and redistribution can work at supermarket scale.
2. Consumer behaviour: demonstrating that customers will return containers consistently when the system is convenient.

Ocado’s early success — validated by multiple industry awards — suggests that reuse can integrate into existing e‑commerce grocery models without compromising service levels.

The refill containers are designed to become a standardised format that other retailers and brands could adopt, enabling economies of scale and shared infrastructure. If the trial continues to deliver strong data, it could accelerate the shift from isolated pilots to coordinated national systems.