RePlay™ Returnables: Keeping Packaging in Use, Again and Again

Reuseable Wednesday: ♻️

Testing reuse where people actually shop

RePlay™ Return has been trialled at New World Birkenhead in Auckland and New World Metro Willis Street in Wellington, taking reuse out of the theoretical and placing it into everyday supermarket shopping.

That has been an important part of the project.

A returnable packaging system needs to work not only from an environmental perspective but for the retailer serving the food, the customer borrowing the container and the organisations responsible for its return, collection, washing and redistribution.

Early in the trial, RePlay™ Return recorded more than 330 borrows, avoiding more than 6kg of single-use packaging. After 12 months, the system had achieved more than 1,850 borrows, representing approximately 33kg of single-use packaging avoided.

Each borrow represents something very simple: another occasion where a new single-use container wasn't required.

The next phase: Shift to RePlay™

The next phase of the RePlay™ Return trial will take the concept a step further at New World Birkenhead, with the removal of single-use takeaway containers from the deli and RePlay™ Return containers becoming the only available packaging option.

Supported by a “Shift to RePlay™” campaign, this next phase will provide an opportunity to better understand consumer behaviour when reuse becomes part of the normal deli experience, rather than an alternative customers need to actively choose over single-use packaging.

The trial will explore how shoppers respond to the change, including their willingness to borrow, return and reuse packaging, while providing valuable insights into the communication, education, return infrastructure and operational processes needed to support a broader transition to reuse.

It represents an important progression for the project. The initial trial has helped demonstrate how consumers behave when given a choice between single-use and reusable packaging. Shift to RePlay™ will explore what happens when the system itself is designed around reuse.

The learnings will help Bonson and its project partners better understand what is required to make reusable packaging a convenient and accepted part of everyday food retail – and how reuse systems could potentially be expanded into other stores and foodservice environments in the future.

The container is only one part of RePlay™ Return

RePlay™ Return is as much an infrastructure and behaviour project as it is a packaging project.

For reuse to work, a number of moving parts need to work together: durable packaging, convenient borrowing, reliable tracking, accessible return points, collection, washing and sanitisation, redistribution and, importantly, customer participation.

It is why collaboration has been fundamental to the project.

Bonson has worked with Foodstuffs North Island, Circularity and Again Again, alongside partners contributing specialist knowledge and capability across design, technology, manufacturing, labelling and supporting infrastructure.

Together, the project has explored a bigger question than how to manufacture a reusable container: How do we build a practical system that keeps that container moving?

Learning from every return

One of the most valuable outputs from RePlay™ Return is the knowledge being generated through real-world use.

The project provides insights into how consumers respond to reusable packaging, how convenient return needs to be, how containers move through the system and what operational infrastructure is required to maintain a viable pool of reusable packaging.

Return rates matter. So do container durability, washing, logistics, customer communication and the location of return points.

These are the practical details that ultimately determine whether reuse can move beyond small trials and become part of everyday food retail.

Rather than assuming how consumers will behave, RePlay™ Return provides an opportunity to learn from what they actually do.

Recognised for innovation in reuse

RePlay™ Return has received significant industry recognition for its approach.

At the 2026 Australasian Packaging Innovation & Design Awards (PIDA), RePlay™ Return received three Gold awards across Sustainable Packaging Design – Reuse, Marketing Design and Labelling & Decoration, as well as Silver for Food Packaging Design.

The project has also been recognised as a finalist in the 2026 Best Design Awards in Sustainable Product Design and Structural Packaging, and as a finalist in the Disruptive Innovation and Outstanding Collaboration categories at the 2026 Sustainable Business Network Awards.

These achievements recognise an important aspect of the project: successful reuse requires more than designing a robust piece of packaging. The container, consumer experience, communication, technology and return system all need to work together.

Reuse first. Recycle when the job is finally done.

Recycling remains an essential part of creating a circular plastics economy. But recycling should not necessarily be the first destination for packaging that is capable of continuing to perform its job.

If a durable PP container can be returned, washed and safely used again, then there is an opportunity to retain the value already invested in manufacturing that container.

Reuse keeps the container intact. Recycling recovers the material when reuse is no longer practical. That distinction is central to RePlay™ Return.

The project is exploring how we can move away from thinking of packaging as something that inevitably becomes waste after one use and instead think of it as a resource that can continue delivering value.

The RePlay™ Return journey is still developing, and there is much more to learn about making returnable systems convenient, efficient and scalable.

But its underlying principle is straightforward: Keep the packaging in play for as long as possible. Return it. Wash it. Use it again. And when it can no longer be reused, recover the material for its next life.

That's circularity in action.

Enjoy. Return. RePlay.

A New Zealand reuse system designed to keep valuable plastic resources in circulation

Reuse comes before recycle.

Recycling is important, but reuse takes the next step - keeping packaging, materials and resources in circulation rather than starting again with something new.

Every time packaging is recycled, it still requires collection, transportation, sorting, processing and energy to break it down and turn it back into usable material. That takes resources too.

The smarter approach is to keep the packaging in use for as long as possible BEFORE it ever needs to be recycled.

That is the thinking behind RePlay™ Return, a reusable food packaging system developed by Bonson Packaging and brought to life through collaboration with partners across retail, circular design, technology and infrastructure.

The goal isn't simply to recycle better. It's to use what we already have, again and again.

Turning a food container into a reusable asset

Most takeaway food packaging has traditionally followed a linear journey: manufacture it, fill it, use it and dispose of it. RePlay™ Return changes that journey.

The polypropylene (PP) containers are specifically designed for repeated cycles of use, return, professional washing and reuse.

PP was selected because it provides the durability and performance required for a reusable food container. RePlay™ Return containers can withstand repeated use and are suitable for refrigeration, microwave reheating and dishwasher cleaning.

Instead of performing its job once, each container is intended to keep performing that job across multiple uses.

And when a RePlay™ Return container eventually reaches the end of its useful life, the PP material itself is recyclable, providing a potential next pathway for the resource.

Making return as easy as possible

Designing a durable container is only one part of creating a reuse system. The container needs to come back.

RePlay™ Return was therefore developed around a simple consumer experience that removes some of the common barriers associated with returnable packaging.

At participating stores, customers can choose RePlay™ Returnables for selected deli and takeaway foods and tap their payment card to borrow the container.

There is no app to download, no membership to join and no cash deposit to manage.

A temporary hold covering the value of the container is placed on the customer's card. The customer then has four weeks to return it through a participating RePlay™ Smart Bin.

The container's QR code is scanned when it is returned, triggering the release of the hold back to the original payment card.

From there, returned containers are collected, professionally washed and sanitised, and prepared to go back into circulation.

Enjoy. Return. RePlay.