The four-month pilot is carried out in collaboration with circular packaging company RE-ZIP and includes around 50,000 deliveries to consumers in Denmark. Through the project, ABENA is gaining practical experience with reusable transport packaging in real logistics operations.
Moving from single-use to reuse
Traditional shipping packaging is often designed for single use. In this pilot, reusable boxes are instead circulated through multiple deliveries as part of RE-ZIP’s circular packaging system.
After receiving their delivery, customers can return the box through designated drop-off points. The boxes are then prepared for reuse in future deliveries.
The purpose of the pilot is to better understand how reusable packaging solutions function in practice, both operationally and from a customer perspective.
“This pilot will help us better understand how reusable packaging can work in practice. We are testing how customers interact with the return system and how the boxes function in our daily operations,” says Jesper Justbjerg Nielsen, Logistics Manager at ABENA.
Exploring the environmental potential
Reusable transport packaging has the potential to reduce the environmental impact of packaging by extending the lifetime of materials and reducing the need for single-use solutions.
According to the project’s business case analysis, even one reuse cycle can reduce the box’s CO2e footprint by up to 50 percent compared to single-use packaging. The actual environmental impact depends on how many times the boxes are reused and how efficiently they circulate within the system.
At the same time, reusable packaging systems require effective logistics processes, customer participation, and efficient return flows in order to function successfully at scale.
Learning through pilot projects
The pilot is part of ABENA’s broader approach to exploring more circular solutions and testing new ways to reduce environmental impact across the value chain.
During the project, ABENA monitors:
- How reusable boxes perform in daily operations
- Customer engagement with the return system
- The potential environmental benefits of reuse models
The findings from the pilot will help determine whether reusable shipping boxes could become part of ABENA’s future logistics solutions.
“At ABENA, we are continuously exploring solutions that support more circular use of resources. This pilot helps us better understand what is required to scale circular logistics solutions and create long-term environmental benefits,” says Eva Tansem Andersen, Global Sustainability Manager at ABENA.